Switzerland: Government study finds 20% of trash could be recycled

Every 10 years the Swiss Federal Office of Environment (FOEV) conduct a study on the composition of household waste. In the latest study they found that about 20% of household waste is actually recyclable or compostable.
About 66% of Swiss recyclable waste is food waste. Glass and paper are the leading non-compostable but recyclable materials are still being discarded in significant levels as trash. Annual household waste is now above 1.6 million tons, an increase of about 8% from the last study. In municipalities where pay-as-you-throw systems have been implemented, the average per capita waste generation is 80 kilograms less (Recycling Laws International, 31 January 2014).
Click here for more information (in German).
Click here for the study (2.34 MB, in German).

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