A Primer on Recycling in Switzerland

The planet needs more people like Mamiko, people who are willing to make the extra effort it sometimes takes to do the right thing. But let’s be honest, “most things” in Switzerland are also thrown in a dumpster. And, was it necessary to start off your post by bashing the U.S.? I am sorry to hear that Ohio is behind the times when it comes to recycling, but there are several states (at least 10) in the U.S. that have recycling programs that rival Switzerland’s. Making comparison’s between the U.S. and Switzerland doesn’t seem fair due to the sheer size difference, wouldn’t you agree?

I absolutely agree that the U.S. needs to improve it’s overall recycling habits, which at the moment are all implemented state by state, but I also see room for improvement in Switzerland as well. Even in places like Dubai, with it’s goal of being the greenest city by 2015, there is room for improvement. According to a friend who recently returned after spending a week there on a business trip. “Being green by 2015 was all these guys talked about,” my friend said. At the end of the week they took him fishing and after spending a full day at sea they proceeded to throw all of their garbage overboard. “What are you doing,” my friend asked and then half jokingly added – “you just killed a dolphin.” To this the men replied that they had really never thought about it before and that it was just a habit that was hard to break. My friend picked up an empty bucket, handed it to them and said “here, it’s your new trash can…it’s not complicated.”

Imagine what the streets of Zürich would look like if the street sweepers took the day off or how about the week off. You’d be wading through cigarette butts, redbull and beer cans. There is a serious litter issue here and only because of the tireless work of the street sweepers do most people not notice. But, it is all about where you have come from and what your expectations are. For me, watching people toss their trash on the street soured the pristine image I had of Switzerland before moving here. When it comes to littering, Switzerland is behind the times. In fact, I believe it is legal here to throw your cigarette butts on the ground or in the lake for that matter, as it is not considered littering. (note: I was told this by a swiss colleague, but have not confirmed it, but come on, if you live here would it surprise you.) Cigarette butts can take up to 10 years to decompose, never mind all the toxins they contain.

It wasn’t long ago (60’s, 70’s) that places like Lake Zürich & Geneva were extremely polluted. I mean unsafe to drink, unsafe to swim in, near zero visibility with most of the fish species having been killed off. So what made them change? How did they clean up the water? Why do they recycle? Does it have anything to do with people paying to discard their waste per bag as opposed to just paying a monthly fee to use a dumpster? Is it all about education? Does the size of Switzerland with it’s limited resources play a factor? Why don’t they recycle your yogurt cup? Why, in Switzerland, as you stated do they continue to giveaway plastic bags and not take them back to recycle? (why not contact someone at Migros or Coop and attempt to get an answer) Diving into this history a bit and trying to answer some of these questions would be interesting to read.

If you live in Switzerland you know about their recycling habits. If you don’t live in Switzerland…you probably don’t care. Unless, you just moved here or are planning to move here, then this topic might be of interest, but even for that group you have left them craving for much more concrete information.

Don’t worry people, once you get here and register at your local Gemeide you’ll be given a roughly 16 page document outlining all the things you can recycle, how you need to prepare them (tie up that cardboard) and where you have to take them. Mind you, there will be no english translation. Excited yet!