SENS and Swico
Competent and sustainable
SENS eRecycling and Swico Recycling have been responsible for the take-back and recycling of electrical and electronic appliances in Switzerland for over 30 years. Together they publish the annual Technical Report.
SENS eRecycling
SENS is an independent, neutral, non-profit foundation that operates under the SENS eRecycling brand. As an expert in the sustainable recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment in and around the house, lamps and lighting equipment, photovoltaic systems, as well as vehicle and industrial batteries, SENS makes a significant contribution to setting pioneering benchmarks in eRecycling.
To this end, it works in close cooperation with specialist networks in which the parties involved in the recycling of electrical and electronic equipment are represented. In cooperation with its partners, SENS is geared towards ensuring that the recycling of this equipment is compliant with economic and ecological principles.
Swico Recycling
Swico Recycling is a special fund within the Swico Trade Association and deals exclusively with cost-covering recycling of waste equipment. Through its activities, Swico aims to extract raw materials and dispose of pollutants in an environmentally friendly way. Swico focuses on equipment from the fields of computing, offices, the graphic arts industry, consumer electronics and telecommunications (such as copiers, printers, televisions, MP3 players, cameras and mobile phones), as well as measuring and medical instruments.
Close cooperation with the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa), a research and services institution for material sciences and technology development within the ETH Domain, plays a crucial role in ensuring that Swico can enforce high and uniform quality standards throughout Switzerland with all waste management services.
Contact
SENS Foundation
Obstgartenstrasse 28
8006 Zurich
+41 43 255 20 00
info@eRecycling.ch
www.eRecycling.ch
SENS Conformity Assessment Body EN SN 50625 series
SENS TC Coordination
Roman Eppenberger
Obstgartenstrasse 28
8006 Zurich
+41 43 255 20 09
roman.eppenberger@sens.ch
Swico Recycling
Lagerstrasse 33
8004 Zurich
+41 44 446 90 94
info@swicorecycling.ch
www.swicorecycling.ch
Swico Conformity Assessment Body EN SN 50625 series
Swico Technical Audit Department
dss+
Esther Thiébaud
Zurich, Switzerland
+41 79 213 03 01
esther.thiebaud@consultdss.com
The Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) offers a range of further information and news on the recycling of electrical and electronic equipment on its website under ‘Waste’.
The ETH Domain’s research centre for materials science and technology, Empa, was tasked with auditing the recycling partners from the beginning of Swico’s recycling activities until the end of 2023 – as the conformity assessment body of the Swico recycling partners.
The ‘CARE – Critical Materials and Resource Efficiency’ Group led by Heinz Böni is responsible for this mandate.
Swiss Recycle is the umbrella organisation of Swiss recycling organisations and the competence centre for recycling and circular economy in Switzerland.
International links
The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal of 22 March 1989 is also known as the Basel Convention.
Solving the E-waste Problem (StEP) is an international initiative that includes not only key players in the fields of manufacturing, reuse and recycling of electrical and electronic equipment, but also government and international organisations.
Three other UN organisations are members of the initiative.
WEEE Europe AG is an association of 19 European take-back systems that has enabled manufacturers and other market participants to fulfil their various national obligations from a single source since January 2015.
The WEEE Forum (Forum for Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) is the European association of 36 systems for the collection and recycling of electrical and electronic equipment.
Cantons with delegated enforcement
On the website of the St. Gallen Office for the Environment and Energy, you can find general information, fact sheets on specific topics and information on current topics under ‘Environment information’ and ‘Environment facts’.
The website of the Department of Construction, Transport and Environment of the Canton of Aargau offers further information under ‘Environment, nature and landscape’ that also relates to the topics of recycling and raw material usage.
On the website of the Office for the Environment of Appenzell Ausserrhoden, you can find general information and publications on specific environmental topics.
On the website of the Office for Waste, Water, Energy and Air (AWEL), you can find a range of information under ‘Waste, raw materials and contaminated sites’ that is of direct importance for the recycling of electrical and electronic equipment.
The website of the Intercantonal Laboratory of the Canton of Schaffhausen offers further information about the recycling of electrical and electronic equipment under ‘Information on specific waste types’.
On the website of the Office for the Environment of the Canton of Lucerne, you can find general information and publications on specific environmental topics.
On the website of the Office for Environmental Protection and Energy (AUE) of the Canton of Basel-Landschaft, you can find information on recycling and raw material usage in electrical and electronic equipment under ‘Waste/controlled waste/electronic waste’.
On the website of the Office for the Environment of the Canton of Thurgau, you can find regionally relevant information on the recycling of electrical and electronic equipment under ‘Waste’.
On the website of the Office for Environmental Protection of the Canton of Zug, you can find general information and fact sheets on the subject of waste under ‘Waste management’. Detailed information on the collection of individual recyclable material fractions is available from the association for Zug residents’ communities for waste management (ZEBA) at www.zebazug.ch.