System Outline
E-waste management in Switzerland is organised in a way that it is
simple, convenient and self financing with clearly defined roles and
responsibilities, backed by a transparent control and monitoring. The following list outlines the cornerstones on which the Swiss e-waste management system is build upon:
- ERP based system, started voluntarily, to manage end-of-life EEE.
- Clear definition of roles and responsibilities of all actors involved.
- Secured financing through advance recycling fee. In keeping with the polluter pays principle, involving no taxpayer liability.
- Comprehensive scope and nationwide acceptance - covering wide range of EEE, irrespective of manufacturer or point and time of sale.
- Multiple levels of controls and monitoring mechanisms for financial and material flows as well as externalities such as emissions and health hazards.
- Sufficient checks and balances to prevent the system from collapsing due to free riding, or monopoly power.
- No illegal waste exports to non-OECD countries for recycling.
Key Issues
The main issues of consideration during the development
and implementation of the SWICO and SENS
system are dealt with. Some are
specific to each system, while some are applicable to both. The 'Key Issues'
discussed are based on the interviews conducted and information obtained from
them in the form of corporate environmental reports, presentations, technical
sheets and annual reports. Since the discussion is an aggregation of
information from various interviews, the individual interviewees are not footnoted.
System Flows
Flow of materials and finances in the Swiss e-waste recycling system
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Diagramm: Cradle to Cradle 25.28 Kb
TITEL DES DOWNLOADSThe main actors in the system are the government, manufacturers & importers, distributors & retailers, consumers, recyclers and raw material producers. The dotted lines (green) show the financial flow, while the solid lines (red) show the flow of materials. Industry associations such as the FEA, SWICO, SRF etc act as representatives on behalf of their members, and liaison with the government on policy and regulatory matters which affect their members. The role of each actor is described in Section 5.5.
Material Flow
The material flows can be divided into two parts - pre
consumption and post consumption material flow. The material flow in the
pre-consumption phase is from the manufacturer/ importer, through the
distributor and finally to the consumer. At the end-of-product-life, the
current user can bring back the appliance to retailers selling similar products
or to designated collection points. The material flows in both the pre and post
consumption stages are almost identical for both the SWICO and SENS systems.
SWICO and SENS have 520 collection points around Switzerland in addition to the
retail locations which number between 7,000 - 10,000. The total tonnage of e-waste
collected by SENS and SWICO was 71,600 and 29,623 tonnes respectively. SWICO reported
that in 2003, 39% of the e-waste was collected at collection points and 40% at
retail shops. The balance is collected directly by SWICO's Recycling Express
Service (13%) or by manufacturers themselves. The next stop in the material
flow material is dismantling or recycling facilities, to pre-sort the pallets
of mixed appliances. At the recyclers, the e-waste goes through further
dismantling, shredding and sorting, after which the recyclate is sent to raw
material manufacturers for material recovery. The rest of the e-waste which is
unrecyclable, goes to the landfill or incinerator. Currently less than 2% of
the e-waste goes to the landfill in Switzerland (SAEFLb, 2004). For
example, the SWICO system recovered 24,000 tonnes of raw material from the
approximately 30,000 tonnes of e-waste, while the balance 6,000 was used for
energy recovery in waste incineration plants.
Financial Flow
The manufacturers pay the ARF to the SWICO or SENS funds
on the sale or import of an appliance. This ARF is passed down to the
distributors and retailers who in turn invoice the consumers on the purchase of
a new appliance. The total ARF collected by both systems in 2003 was a little
over CHF 71.6 million.
The ARF is used to pay for the collection, transport and
mainly recycling of the disposed appliances. While retail stores are required
by law to take back old appliances, and are not compensated for this activity,
collection points, such as railway stations, are compensated for the waste
collected on a per kg or per piece basis, depending on the type of waste. SWICO
and SENS together paid almost CHF 5.6 million, or approximately 8 % of the
total ARF received, to the collection points.
The e-waste is transported from the collection points to
the dismantling or recycling facilities by authorised transporters. SWICO has
Cargo Domizil as its sole transport service provider, while SENS has approximately
100 transporters who are paid a fixed transportation fee per kg or per piece
depending on the type of e-waste. In 2003, it cost SWICO and SENS together a
little over CHF 10.5 million to transport waste. In all, the collection and
logistics expense was over CHF 16.1 million, representing almost 22.5 % of the
ARF received.
The charges for recycling are the highest cost line item
for both SWICO and SENS. Recycling expenses for SENS totalled more than 47% of
the ARF while SWICO paid out almost 70% of the ARF received in recycling costs.
Together, their expenditure on recycling was nearly CHF 41.5 million.
Administration, controlling and public relations expenses are less than 5% of
the total expenditure for both systems.