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Foreword

Will closing cycles soon become a national pastime?

We have been working toward this result for a long time, and in mid-March, parliament approved the revised Environmental Protection Act for a strong Swiss circular economy. We hope that this new law will provide us with the opportunity to anchor the fundamental principles – reuse, repair and recycling – even more firmly within the population. How wonderful would it be if closing cycles became a new national pastime in the future!

This year’s technical report once again impressively demonstrates that we are in the top league internationally when it comes to our electronic waste recycling. With the supplementary technical regulations (eTV) – the “Swiss Finish” – we are ensuring that we will remain so in the future. These regulations were revised and updated by our Technical Commission in 2023. Since they cover more than the international standards in individual points, they guarantee not only a reliable and uniform processing quality of the collected waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) in Switzerland, but also one of the highest in Europe. We at SENS and Swico conduct regular audits to ensure that our recycling partners adhere to this high standard.

In an industry plagued by pervasive pollutants, we do everything possible to protect people and the planet as best we can: last year, we worked with Empa to investigate how lithium batteries can be safely discharged in water and how we can ensure that the generated gases do not pose a hazard to the environment or the employees involved. We also continually set new standards when it comes to recovering valuable materials and hazardous substances: among other things, we possess three of the most modern recycling plants in Switzerland for recovering climate-damaging refrigerants and propellants in Europe.

In the coming years, we will continue striving to secure our top spot in European recycling. To this end, we will keep strengthening our partnerships, forge new ones and promote innovations. We are also relying on your support, our valued readers from business, politics and administration, and thank you for the trust you place in us as a long-standing and well-coordinated team.

We hope you enjoy reading our technical report, which is being published purely digitally for the first time – and let us assure you that we will continue giving our all to closing cycles in 2024.

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