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What to do with the electronic waste? Many take him to the disposal yards. It would be a lot easier that way.
23 kilograms per person – that’s how much electronic waste piles up every year. In terms of quantity, Switzerland is thus at the top of the list within Europe. After all, there is an established recycling system that is supposed to channel electronic waste in the right direction so that as little of it ends up in the household rubbish as possible.
However, knowledge about electronic waste recycling does not seem to be very well developed among the population, as a study by the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland found in a study with 1028 participants.
Struggle to part with the old
One in three of the people surveyed did not know that electrical devices and entertainment electronics can also be returned in larger grocery stores that have little electronics on offer. Apparently not everyone also knows that you don’t have to buy something new in the shop where a device is returned.
In addition, not every electrical device is recognized as such. This increases the risk that the talking doll will mistakenly end up in the bin instead of with the electronic scrap.
It is noticeable that many people apparently find it difficult to definitively part with decommissioned equipment. Around 20 percent of the people surveyed stated that they still kept them as a backup to give them away or simply hadn’t found the time to dispose of the goods.
Almost three times higher recycling rate than in the EU
Switzerland is proud of its e-waste recycling system. The “advanced recycling fee” has existed since 1998. This is automatically withdrawn for every purchase in Germany. The type of device and its weight are decisive for the amount.
Manufacturers, importers and dealers are required by regulation to take back used equipment free of charge and dispose of it. Recycling is financed through the fee. Recycling is dedicated to keeping as many valuable materials as possible in the cycle for further use; Keyword rare earths. And of course, to pollute the environment less with pollutants.
In an international comparison, Switzerland does particularly well, at least in this recycling discipline. Depending on the source, over 90 percent of the devices end up in the recycling. In the EU, according to an evaluation by the EU Commission, it was recently only 35 percent.