Recycling and waste disposal

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – these are the three R’s of recycling and the foundations of environmentally sound consumer behaviour. This means reducing waste, reusing raw materials and recycling correctly. We would be happy to show you here how recycling can be done without great effort.

What can you do?

Bring your things to the recycling center:

•  Usually it is the municipal depot, which enables the recycling of various raw materials in one place. However, there are also private raw material traders who offer this service free of charge (with the exception of refuse that is subject to a charge, such as bulky items). All you have to do is observe the opening hours.

Take advantage of recycling collection services:

• It’s even easier with a collection service. In this way you can collect almost any type of recyclable material (household refuse, glass, plastic, …) in a sack and have it collected. For example, this service is offered by Mr. Green or the IG Arbeit, though a fee is charged.

Additional Informationen

Recycling is often associated with a certain amount of effort, yet as calculations by Swiss Recycling show: The total environmental benefit of recycling in Switzerland is equivalent to the combined residential energy requirements of the inhabitants of Zurich, Basel, Lucerne and Berne.

Comparisons can be made when breaking down to the tonne:

• One tonne of recycled aluminium packaging saves the equivalent on environmental impact* as that caused by driving 30,500 km; equivalent to 30 times the distance from Zurich to Barcelona!
• One tonne of recycled PET bottles saves as much energy as a 12-watt energy-efficient lamp would use over a span of 52 years.
• One tonne of recycled glass packaging saves on environmental impact* as that which is generated by the continuous use of a laptop for 1.7 years.

Also important to know: Household waste is not, as is often assumed, sorted and recycled before incineration. Thus, if you dispose of glass, aluminium or other recyclable materials within your household waste, they will be used to generate energy (in the form of heat) at the refuse incineration plant.

* The assessment of the environmental impact is based on the method of ecological scarcity. “According to the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment, the central parameters of the method are the eco-factors (including CO₂, air pollutants or land use), which indicate the environmental impact of a pollutant emission or resource extraction in the unit environmental impact points (EIP) per unit of quantity. In determining the eco-factors, the current emission situation on the one hand and the Swiss or the international targets supported by Switzerland on the other, play a major role”. According to Carbotech, 1000 UBP correspond to the pollution caused by a 3 km car journey.

Questions about Climate Action?

Climate telephone

Do you have specific questions regarding climate action? Phone our climate experts, Bosco & Co, from 17:00 to 19:00 and Fridays from 12:00 to 17:00.

Tel.: 052 203 02 32

E-Mail

No time to telephone? No problem. Kindly send us an email at: klimafragen@myblueplanet.ch

Bosco Büeler

Bosco has decades of experience in architecture, building biology, climate protection and mobility. As co-founder of myblueplanet, and an active climate protector, is he our go-to expert for specific approaches pertaining the climate crisis.

Mehr über Bosco

• 1952 geboren in Flawil SG, Vater von drei Söhnen und neben vier Berufsabschlüssen seit Jahrzenten als Architekt und Baubiologe tätig
• Gastvorleser und Berater bei diversen Bauprojekten in 20 verschiedenen Ländern
• Tätig für mehrere Projekte im humanitären Bereich im Auftrag der Schweizer Regierung
• Mitgründer von mehreren Schweizer Organisationen: Schweizerisches Institut für Baubiologie (heute baubioswiss), Genossenschaft Information Baubiologie
• Generalsekretär der Baubiologie-Weltorganisation
• Konzeptleiter beim Neubau des Bundesamtes für Statistiken in Neuenburg (1991)
• Projektleiter/Mitarbeiter bei 200 weiteren Architekturprojekten
• Mitbegründer der Auto Teilet Genossenschaft (ATG), heute in neuer Form als Carsharing-Unternehmen Mobility bekannt
• Mitbegründer von myblueplanet
• Aktuell konzentrieren sich seine Tätigkeiten auf Expertisen im Bau- und Energiesektor und einige Dozententätigkeiten

Die Baubiologie wendet konsequent ökologische und gesundheitsverträgliche Methoden an im Bereich Architektur und Bau und hat sich in den letzten 30 Jahren zu einer komplett neuen Branche entwickelt. Dabei sind hunderte Firmen und tausende von Arbeitsplätzen entstanden. Bosco war selber bei dutzenden von Firmen Berater. Seit 1992 ist die Baubiologie eine Ausbildung mit eidgenössisch anerkanntem Fachausweis.