Actors in the SWICO Recycling System
In Switzerland two take-back systems financed by an advance recycling fee (ARF) are installed, one each for electrical and electronic devices. The first system, which covers household equipment including small devices like hair dryers and big devices like electric furnaces and refrigerators, is managed by the Stiftung Entsorgung Schweiz (http://www.sens.ch (in German, French and Italian only) ">SENS). The second system, which covers office electronic and IT equipment, mobile telephones, equipment used in the graphics industry, telephones and telephone switchboard systems, as well as consumer electronics, is operated by the Swiss Association for the Information, Communication and Organisational Technologies (SWICO). The two systems are co-operating on the level of material flow control.
Because the topic of this guide is electronic waste, the focus is on the SWICO system. It involves different actors with each of them having their own responsibilities. The following parties exercise important functions: importers & manufacturers, traders & retailers, consumers, collection points, dismantlers, refiners & conditioners and finally disposers.
Because the topic of this guide is electronic waste, the focus is on the SWICO system. It involves different actors with each of them having their own responsibilities. The following parties exercise important functions: importers & manufacturers, traders & retailers, consumers, collection points, dismantlers, refiners & conditioners and finally disposers.
Importer/Manufacturer
Manufacturers and importers of electronic equipment are responsible for their products up to the end of the products useful life, and therefore jointly operate a return and recycling system via their association. It is their job to collect the advance recycling fee (ARF) imposed on new electronic equipment. They further guarantee a smooth recycling operation, paying special attention to the recycling quality and the utilization of funds.
Trader/Retailer
Traders/retailers are an important element in the entire recycling chain, as 58 % of all end-used electronic appliances end up at their stores (SWICO Activity Report 2002). Traders charge an advance recycling fee (ARF) on each newly sold piece of electronic equipment. This fee stays with the trader who paid the same amount to the importer/manufacturer as part of the products delivery price. As a result, traders/retailers do not make any financial profit out of the SWICO recycling system. On the other hand the SWICO Recycling scheme provides them with a convenient outlet for e-waste as retailers and traders are obliged to take back any electronic equipment of the kind offered in their assortment by the Swiss ordinance on the return, take-back and disposal of electrical and electronic appliances (ORDEA).
Consumer
Upon purchase of a new electronic product, consumers have to pay an advance recycling fee (ARF). This entitles them to return any old equipment to importers, traders or authorized collection points. Furthermore, the ARF on new equipment finances the take back of old equipment bought at a time when the ARF had not been implemented yet.
Authorized E-waste Collection Points
The SWICO and SENS recycling systems run a number of authorized collection points (total in 2003: about 500) all over Switzerland, where electronic equipment of any kind can be returned free of charge. Arrangements for home collections can also be made via hotline.
Licensed Sorting and Dismantling Companies
The SWICO recycling system operates with 15 licensed sorting and dismantling companies spread all over Switzerland, which process electronic waste according to the Swiss Ordinance on the Return, Take-back and Disposal of Electrical and Electronic Appliances (ORDEA). Processing includes manual and mechanical sorting and dismantling, shredding and recovery of materials. Depending on their composition, the resulting fractions are passed over to refiners, conditioners or final disposers.
Refiner/Conditioner
Most of the fractions need to be refined or conditioned in order to be sold as a secondary raw material or to be disposed of in a final disposal site, respectively. Refining is performed in refining companies inside and outside Switzerland for fractions like aluminium, batteries, CRT's, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, recyclable plastics and printed boards. Conditioning is mainly performed in Switzerland and includes Municipal Solid Waste Incineration (MSWI) in of the 36 Swiss MSWI plants for fractions such as plastics waste, and Hazardous Waste Incineration for fractions such as condensers. More than 75% (by weight) of the material entering the SWICO and SENS recycling systems is refined to secondary raw materials like aluminium, copper, gold and silver. 20% (by weight) of the material mainly plastics - is incinerated (Waste Management World 2002: Managing Electric and Electronic Waste. November-December 2002 Edition. Peter Bornand, President of SWICO Environmental Commission, SWICO. http://www.jxj.com/wmw/, archive November-December 2002).
Most of the fractions need to be refined or conditioned in order to be sold as a secondary raw material or to be disposed of in a final disposal site, respectively. Refining is performed in refining companies inside and outside Switzerland for fractions like aluminium, batteries, CRT's, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, recyclable plastics and printed boards. Conditioning is mainly performed in Switzerland and includes Municipal Solid Waste Incineration (MSWI) in of the 36 Swiss MSWI plants for fractions such as plastics waste, and Hazardous Waste Incineration for fractions such as condensers. More than 75% (by weight) of the material entering the SWICO and SENS recycling systems is refined to secondary raw materials like aluminium, copper, gold and silver. 20% (by weight) of the material mainly plastics - is incinerated (Waste Management World 2002: Managing Electric and Electronic Waste. November-December 2002 Edition. Peter Bornand, President of SWICO Environmental Commission, SWICO. http://www.jxj.com/wmw/, archive November-December 2002).
Some 3% (by weight) of the material entering the SWICO Recycling System ends up in (mostly Swiss) landfills. Swiss landfills are subject to a relatively strict emission control and are comparatively restrictive regarding the materials accepted: since the year 2000 combustive materials have no longer been admitted for final disposal in landfills.
