The world of electronic waste is fascinating, interesting and motivating – as is shown by the contributions from our partners as well as from the feedback provided by the world of research, the population and the SENS team.
Although the healthy collaboration with our partners makes it possible to implement a take-back system, it is the enthusiasm of everyone involved in the eRecycling cycle that makes this system a success, with new exciting developments inspiring us every year.
Read on and find out what we have achieved together in the past year.
Andreas Röthlisberger
Honorary President of the SENS Foundation
Foreword by the Foundation Honorary President
30 years of SENS eRecycling
“Even when I was young, I already had great respect and an appreciation of what Native Americans had done with the environment. Closing cycles was a concern of mine from an early age.”
I opened the anniversary film celebrating 30 years of SENS eRecycling with this statement. The development of the SENS vision has spurred me on since the 1980s and I am proud that the basic principles that we developed back then are still adhered to 30 years later.
We are now focusing our attention more than ever on the actions that the Native Americans took as a matter of course all those years ago. The holistic approach of the circular economy is (I would almost like to say “Finally!”) an issue that everyone is talking about and is encouraging every sector to give some thought to the recovery of raw materials as well as the design, production, distribution, use and even the recycling of a product. In so doing, it is setting the course so that every sector is on the right track going forwards.
When we look at our return rates for waste electrical equipment, we are at the top of the international rankings with an average of 95 per cent. People in Switzerland are active supporters of professional disposal and in terms of closing the cycles of materials – with 16 kilograms of electronic waste returned per person per year, we can assume that waste electrical equipment will find its way back in the cycle in Switzerland as secondary raw materials. These 16 kilograms of electronic waste also tells us a great deal about our consumption and lifestyle – as the amount of electronic waste increases year on year. Electronic waste is the fastest-growing waste stream in the world. The United Nations (UN) estimates that an unbelievable 74.7 million tonnes of electronic waste will have been generated by 2030. This highlights the significance of professional recycling and thus the recovery and reuse of recyclable materials. The figures are clear and impactful.
My fascination with closing cycles inspires me as much today as it did in my youth and I am still not at all tired of developing new ideas aimed at protecting our environment. After 30 years, it is with a little pride and a lot of gratitude that I can hand over the responsibility to the next generation. Handing over the presidency to my colleague on the Board of Trustees Dirk Hoffmann is by no means an ending for SENS, but rather an impetus for further development in a dynamic market with major and new challenges. Dirk Hoffmann is a man of action who passionately promotes sustainability and circular economy, is a people person and is convinced of the power of visions. With his experience, expertise and creativity, he is precisely the right person for us and our partners.
I would like to say thank you for 30 exciting, inspiring, challenging and most notably rewarding years with SENS eRecycling. The future of SENS is in good hands.
Andreas Röthlisberger
Heidi Luck
Managing Director
Foreword by the Managing Director
We’re the place to be!
Zoom, Teams, GoToMeeting – digital is the new normal – and this has definitely thrown some people over the last year. The fact that we in the SENS eRecycling team held our meetings, maintained daily contact with our partners and were even able to enjoy our 9.00 a.m. coffee together virtually on the first day of the home-office recommendation highlights our agility and flexibility in terms of digitalisation.
Do not get me wrong, the coronavirus pandemic also impacted us and after my words on the pandemic in the last Annual Report, who would have thought that we would still be dealing with this difficult situation today. However, the variety of projects that we have successfully completed together – even in these extraordinary times – shows me that we are on the right track. Because once again this is proof of how valuable a collaborative partnership is – digitally and in the real world.
For example, the SENS CITY anniversary tour that we had planned was quickly arranged to be held virtually. With various stops and promotional campaigns across Switzerland, we had wanted to meet you all in person, say thank you for the joint milestones we reached and forge plans for the next 30 years. And then everything changed in March 2020, as you already know. Our SENS CITY tour was widely appreciated, with the numerous instances of positive feedback we received showing that we can also apply a personal touch online.
On 14 October 2020, which is International E-Waste Day, we sent out 100,000 letters – each accompanied with a recycling bag – to households in Zurich and Bern to find out whether there was a demand among our population for electronic waste to be collected from individual post boxes by post. We had already received the first positive feedback on home collection in 2019, and so were floored by the positive feedback we gained in our second pilot test. With more than 7,000 filled recycling bags and more than 9,000 kilograms of electronic waste collected, we were totally overwhelmed by the number of “Yes” votes we received to this question, not to mention the positive posts on social media, the lovely telephone calls and the comments on our website. We will definitely revisit this campaign in 2021 – or even immediately!
In our voluntary system, the contractual partners make the decision themselves as to whether they want to support us or not. The fact that we concluded more than 100 new contracts in the last year alone and in doing so gained an additional 100 supporters for the SENS take-back system is sensational. Working together constructively with our partners, we are developing eRecycling further with a constant focus on sustainability and the conservation of resources. This is a success model that puts us in a good position for the next 30 years.
It gives me great pleasure to be able to shine a light on the highlights of our 2020 in this Annual Report. I know which is my favourite project, as that was where everything was really happening! I am interested to hear about which is your favourite.
With warm regards
Heidi Luck
Dirk Hoffmann
President of the SENS Foundation
Foreword by the President of the SENS Foundation
An impressive start
Over the course of my career, I have been able to meet, support and shape many large, successful and sustainable companies. Receiving the international IF Design Award for our SENS City campaign just as I am taking over the presidency of SENS eRecycling has made my start with SENS twice as impressive an experience as it already was.
Firstly, I have big shoes to fill: those of our freshly appointed honorary president, Dr Andreas Röthlisberger. He spent the past 30 years making SENS what it is and paving my way with admirable ambition, imagination and courage. I find the Foundation’s achievements incredibly impressive from an ecological and entrepreneurial point of view, and I look forward to leading it further along its path.
This brings me to my second point. To me, the IF Design Award represents what SENS eRecycling already is and what it will continue to be: ambitious, independent and confident. Every day, we overcome new challenges, set ourselves ambitious goals and grow as we strive for the goal we share with our customers and partners: to become even better.
I look forward to my time with SENS eRecycling and cannot wait to meet you all in person soon.
Yours
Dirk Hoffmann
30 years of SENS eRecycling
The key milestones
What are your fondest memories of the last 30 years? At SENS eRecycling, there are a couple of key milestones that we would like to reminisce about before focusing on the joint projects from 2020.
1990
Founding of Swiss Disposal Foundation (Stiftung Entsorgung – S.EN.S). Aim: a disposal system for appliances and batteries which allows for a reasonably optimised cycle of materials – from production to disposal.
1991
Introduction of a nationwide disposal service for refrigerators in Switzerland using a disposal sticker.
1992/93
The Swiss Interest Group for the Disposal of Electrical Appliances (Interessensgemeinschaft Elektroapparate-Entsorgung Schweiz – IGEE) is founded to develop a concept for a nationwide recycling system. Its ideas remain in effect to this date.
1998
With the ORDEE, the Swiss Federal Council enacts an ordinance on the return, taking back and disposal of electrical and electronic equipment. An overall system is set up.
2002
Founding of the WEEE Forum (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment). The laws, targets and standards set out in Switzerland are adopted by the European members.
2003
The advance recycling fee (ARF) is introduced and the take-back and disposal obligations for manufacturers and importers are extended to include all electrical and electronic household appliances. Number of S.EN.S contractual partners: 65.
2005
The construction, garden and hobby equipment and toys sectors join the disposal system. In the same year, S.EN.S is commissioned by the Swiss Lighting Recycling Foundation (SLRS) with the operational management of the disposal of lamps and lighting equipment.
2008
The disposal system now has more than 600 manufacturers and importers as members. The number of waste electrical and electronic appliances taken back and processed is rising constantly. eRecycling goes international with SENS International (now known as the Fair Recycling Foundation).
2010
SENS launches the e-Recycling.ch quality label, which it awards to partners that meet the highest quality standards.
2013
Collaboration with the Swissolar industry association: photovoltaic equipment is now accepted in the recycling programme.
2015
SENS eRecycling celebrates its 25th anniversary.
2018
The first International E-Waste Day takes place. The aim of this day is to promote the recycling of electrical and electronic appliances. SENS eRecycling participates in celebrating this day.
2020
SENS CITY – 30 years of eRecycling. SENS goes on an anniversary tour of Switzerland.
eRecycling – just my thing
The promotional film for the 30th anniversary
The eRecycling system in Switzerland is one of the most successful in the world. The return rates are two to three times higher than in most other European countries. The benefits for the environment are impressive. Where does this success come from?
During the past 30 years, SENS eRecycling has succeeded in developing a take-back system for electrical and electronic appliances in Switzerland that sets pioneering international standards. Who are the players who make this successful system possible? How exactly does the recycling process work? How is everything financed? And what does the future look like? Will electrical and electronic appliances soon dispose of themselves?
The five-part film series by the Lucerne film-maker Till Gmür shows the exciting journey of 30 years of eRecycling in Switzerland. With spectacular images, each episode tells of the power of innovative ideas – and the efficiency of solutions that are based on the principle of voluntary participation and taking personal economic responsibility.
Conclusion
SENS CITY
On the anniversary tour of Switzerland
To mark its 30-year anniversary, SENS eRecycling is saying thank you to its contractual partners, collection points, logistics companies, recyclers and, of course, the consumers. We carried out a virtual tour of Switzerland – without visiting any of the stops in person – and showcased what we have achieved together and what we have in store for the future.
The SENS CITY tour was planned completely differently – with various stops and promotional campaigns across Switzerland, we had wanted to meet you all in person, say thank you for the joint milestones we reached and forge plans for the next 30 years. During the planning of the SENS CITY tour, it quickly became apparent that a trip through Switzerland would not be possible. We still wanted to say thank you to everyone and the SENS CITY tour was thus transformed into a virtual tour in just a few weeks. Anyone who was interested was able to join us on the tour of Switzerland and find out all about the fascination of eRecycling. Our ARF and disposal partners enhanced the regional stops with insights into their industries and we provided people with information about eRecycling and the motivation to take it up as we moved across Switzerland.
Conclusion
You can never say thank you too many times and this makes people happy, even when it is done virtually.
"Particularly in times in which environmental protection is met with barely any interest in the media, it is all the more pleasing that we have gained so many supporters for eRecycling."
Hygiene station
Get to know our new contractual partners
More than 100 new contractual partners have joined the SENS take-back system in the past year. Particularly in times in which environmental protection is met with barely any interest in the media, it is all the more pleasing that we have gained so many supporters for eRecycling. For example, have you heard of the company RUOSSTECH AG? Maybe you haven’t yet, but you should be familiar with company’s products by now.
Household appliances, lighting equipment and refrigerators are the most well-known appliance categories in our take-back system. We have become so well established in this area that consumers often ask about the ARF when making a purchase. What many people don’t know is that we regularly update our appliance list of electrical and electronic appliances that are subject to the ARF and proactively approach companies that manufacture, import or sell new electrical or electronic appliances commercially.
We are extremely delighted to gain a new contractual partner in RUOSSTECH AG (sheet metal working and electrical engineering), which has just celebrated its 100-year anniversary. With their latest proprietary product – a hygiene station with an infrared thermometer – they are selling a state-of-the-art electrical appliance for which there wasn’t widespread interest only a few months ago.
In the company’s mission statement, the employees describe quality as being a company trademark and that their ambition is to protect the environment. When consumers pay the advance recycling fee when purchasing the new proprietary product, this ensures that professional disposal has already been paid for and thus makes an important contribution to the protection of the environment. Thank you, RUOSSTECH AG, and welcome to SENS eRecycling!
We want to place our new contractual partners in the spotlight and publish a profile for each of them on our website. Get in touch with us and we would be more than happy to write about you and your company.
Conclusion
Every new contractual partner is a win for SENS eRecycling – we would be delighted to provide you with information about our new partners via our communication channels.
Collection points
Huge rush in demand during the first lockdown
What did the average person in Switzerland do during the lockdown? That’s right, they had a clear-out! Our collection points felt the effects of this primarily in the spring. Three people who experienced this rush in demand tell us about what happened at the collection points and how they coped with the situation.
Heidi Oswald
Managing Director at The Association of Local Authorities of the Canton of Zug for Waste Disposal Administration (ZEBA)
The Swiss Federal Council declared an “extraordinary situation” on 16 March 2020 and Switzerland was placed in lockdown. How did this affect your collection point?
In addition to hygiene measures, dosing systems were introduced as well. This resulted in longer waiting times at collection points. It was clear that the population had more time to have a clear-out from both the longer waiting lines and the amount of waste collected. We collected a great deal more glass and cardboard in particular.
We were presented with a number of challenges owing to the fact that social institutions had to temporarily suspend their services. This led to a backlog in the flow of goods. It was also difficult to procure masks during the first lockdown.
How did you overcome the challenges?
To ensure that we could implement the metering system, we had to bring in additional security staff. We also offered TWINT as a payment option to ensure that direct contact between people was kept low. In addition, employees were prompted to take their breaks in shifts.
COVID-19 brought about a wide range of problems. Were there any positives you could take from the situation?
Despite all of the fuss with the introduction of the hygiene measures and the huge rush, we noticed that our day-to-day lives slowed down during the lockdown. The panic buying of fee-based waste disposal bags had a positive impact on the association’s finances. We sold 47 per cent more fee-based waste disposal bags during the lockdown in March 2020 than we did in the previous year.
This Schwendimann
Entrepreneur
The Swiss Federal Council declared an “extraordinary situation” on 16 March 2020 and Switzerland was placed in lockdown. How did this affect your collection point?
Due to our public service function in the waste cycles, the “brings!” collection points did not have to shut down. There was, however, a huge rush in demand at the disposal centres, as people now had the time to have a clear-out. Added to this was the fact that other collection points in the region were closed, which was another circumstance that resulted in the huge rush in demand at our collection points.
How did you overcome the challenges?
The challenge was to fulfil the public service function on the one hand and the restrictions set out by the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) on the other. In order to overcome these challenges, a booking system and an app was developed. These made it possible for people to book time slots at collection points and drop off their waste without making contact with other people. This innovative idea allowed us to keep our operations running without any problems or waiting times – despite the restrictions set out by the FOPH.
COVID-19 brought about a wide range of problems. Were there any positives you could take from the situation?
What made us really happy was that more than 90 per cent of the people who took part in a survey said that they were satisfied with the new booking system and the app and will continue to use them both. Secondarily, the app also proved successful in solving the Saturday rush. COVID-19 has definitely been a game changer in speeding up digitalisation. The app works well and has been met with approval among the population – we have already sold it to an external collection point in St. Niklaus (Canton of Valais).
This Schwendimann handed over the reins of “brings!” AG to his two sons Kilian and Demian on 30 October 2020.
Werner Grossen
Head of the Stationary Collection Service Division, ERB
The Swiss Federal Council declared an “extraordinary situation” on 16 March 2020 and Switzerland was placed in lockdown. How did this affect your collection point?
The first measure that we took for our two collection points was to draw up and implement a safety concept. This was mainly based on the concepts of maintain your distance (introduction of a drip system), hygiene measures (provision of dispensers with disinfectants) and informing people that they should only use the collection point to drop off items that need to be disposed of immediately. These measures ensured that both our customers and our employees were protected.
How did you overcome the challenges?
We were successful in overcoming these challenges. Although the drip system resulted in a huge backlog and long waiting times, the population understood and endured the situation with a great deal of patience. Here, we were additionally supported by the transport service.
Our employees worked hard and played their part to ensure that we were able to successfully deal with a situation that was not always easy.
COVID-19 brought about a wide range of problems. Were there any positives you could take from the situation?
It provided proof that the waste disposal service in the city of Bern can continue running seamlessly at all times, even in crisis situations.