Electro Recycling Bag

eRecycling has never been so easy

Is your electrical equipment faulty or no longer fit for purpose? With our Electro Recycling Bag, you can ensure it is disposed of correctly. This is important because electrical equipment contains valuable materials, as well as hazardous substances that must be disposed of properly.

Up to 85 per cent of the components contained in electrical and electronic appliances are reusable. This mainly includes metals, such as iron, steel, copper and aluminium, as well as plastics and glass – and even precious metals such as gold. In addition to these valuable materials, electrical equipment also contains substances that are harmful if they enter the soil, water or air. Such substances primarily include mercury, hazardous substances contained in cooling agents and refrigerants, brominated flame retardants, and environmentally persistent substances found in the capacitors of old electrical equipment.

Collection from your letterbox

It is therefore all the more important that electrical equipment is disposed of correctly. You can use the bag to recycle your old electrical equipment easily from home. Fill the bag with a maximum of 10 kilograms of appliances that contain electrical or electronic components and that fit inside. Then place the bag in your letterbox where it is easily visible so that the postal service can collect it.

Launched as a pilot project in 2022

For about four months in 2022, citizens of Geneva, Bern and Zurich were able to give their old electrical equipment a second life – from their own doorsteps. The Electro Recycling Bag provided an easy way to collect electrical equipment and then dispose of it via the letterbox. The rest was taken care of by SENS eRecycling in partnership with Swiss Post. People made good use of this offering, with over 4,500 orders received. A SENSational six tonnes of electrical equipment was collected and brought back into the cycle. A new offering in collaboration with Service Industrielle de Genève (SIG) also made it possible to provide a reuse offering in addition to recycling for the first time.

Over six tonnes of electrical equipment given a second life

The canton of Geneva and the cities of Zurich and Bern experienced a veritable outbreak of collection fever. Cellars were cleared out, boxes emptied and drawers turned upside down. This resulted in over 6.5 tonnes of faulty or unused electrical equipment being returned using the Electro Recycling Bags – a sensational achievement and a great success for the SENS eRecycling offering in project partnership with Swiss Post. The success of this campaign was not only corroborated by the excellent figures, but also the great deal of positive feedback received from local residents.

Low proportion of non-electrical items

The filled Recycling Bags were analysed to gain deeper insights into the recycling behaviour of the Swiss population, and a lot of interesting things came to light. For example, the average filled Electro Recycling Bag weighed just over 4.5 kilograms and typically contained electric toothbrushes, razors, irons and food mixers. Other items disposed of using the Electro Recycling Bag included remote controls, mobile phones and headphones. One fact that proved particularly pleasing was that the amount of waste incorrectly disposed of was very low, standing at less than 0.5%.