Waste - Why care? (Switzerland)

In every country, waste is an issue of growing environmental and human health concern. Growing amounts of waste is a consequence of the growth of populations and economies. This leads to rising levels of production, consumption and construction activity, generating more and more waste. Not only municipal solid waste and construction waste quantities are rising, but also those of industrial and hazardous waste.

A well-working and sustainable waste management system has come to be regarded as a matter of course in Switzerland. Over the past years, a paradigm shift away from the reduction of individual waste streams and waste disposal towards environmentally sound recovery and recycling has been achieved. In 2000, Switzerland introduced a ban on the landfilling of combustible waste, and took steps to ensure that incineration capacity was expanded accordingly. Today, combustible waste is no longer landfilled in Switzerland (FOEN, 2008).

In an international comparison, Switzerland is among the countries achieving the highest rates of recovery and recycling. However, it is our commitment to future generations to further improve the efficiency of material and energy consumption and the environmentally sound treatment of waste targeting a sustainable raw materials and waste management.