International Review of Waste Management Policy - Department of ...

that product, the risk that the materials will be classed as hazardous in the future, as
any expected increases in efficiency of the recycling process, and projected future
material revenues. 440 Thus premiums become lower where the company can
demonstrate ease of recycling of their product, thereby providing financial incentive
for companies to look for more environmentally-friendly product designs.
20.2.1.7 Switzerland
In 1998, the Swiss Government issued an Ordinance on the Return, the Taking Back
and the Disposal of Electrical and Electronic Appliances (ORDEA), placing
responsibilities on the consumer to return the product at the end of its life, and on the
retailer to take back the product from the consumer free-of-charge. The Swiss
Foundation for Waste Management (SENS) covers all categories listed in the EU
directive except category three (IT and telecommunications) and category four
(consumer equipment) products, which are covered by The Swiss Association for
Information, Communication and Organisational Technology (SWICO). In addition, the
Swiss Association for Illumination (SLG) operates a collective scheme for lighting
equipment.
Producers and importers have to pay an advanced recycling charge in Switzerland for
every product that they place on the Swiss market. The charge is calculated based on
the retail price. 441 Switzerland differs from the EU, because buyers pay an advanced
advertised recycling fee on top of the purchase price which the producers/importers
then use to pay their recycling charge and finance collection and treatment of WEEE.
The consumer can return the WEEE to a distributor or other collection point free of
charge for processing. Similar to Norway, distributors are obliged to take-back similar
EEE without the consumer having to purchase a new product. A disadvantage to this
approach could be that certain distributors receive more than others. However a
reimbursement is used in Switzerland to account for any imbalance, and the system
has led to greater increases in take-back from distributors than from municipality
collection sites in recent years.
The ordinance does not specifically dictate whether companies must take
responsibility via individual or collective means, but in reality most companies join a
collective scheme. 442 There are approximately 450 official collection points managed
by SENS alone (including around 130 municipalities), 9000 retailers that accept takeback,
and more than 30 treatment partners. 443
440 Recycling M@gazine (2007) What if you could Eliminate the Risk? Insurances as a Way of Hedging
Against Future Recycling Costs, Recycling M@gazine 12, 18-21.
441 R. Veit (2005) How do WEEE get it right?, EMSNow, available at
http://www.emsnow.com/npps/story.cfm?id=15184
442 HKTDC (2006) WEEE and RoHS Transposition Update – Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein,
Business Alert EU, [Accessed 13 th October 2008], available at
http://info.hktdc.com/alert/eu0615d.htm
443 SENS (2007) Swiss Foundation for Waste Management, [Accessed 13 th October 2008], available at
www.sens.ch
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International Review of Waste Policy: Annexes