Hello,

Does anyone have updates on this subject? Is there any place in Geneva that collects plastic waste for recycling?

I don’t have any answers for plastic items in general, but I give my clean and re-usable plastic bags to a couple of the local charity shops where material for wrapping customers’ purchases is often in short supply.

R.

Don't want to brag or anything [which is exactly what I am doing of course] but we here in France have HUGE bins for the collection of rubbish, including one such for all plastic waste. Bit of a schlep for yaw'll to come over the border but we accumulate our plastics in a large bag and then tip them into the container perioidically. After all, they are not heavy.

Thanks for the info, Sheila.

CH will probably introduce a similar scheme but, as you know, innovations take a little while before they become reality around here – but they do usually happen in the end.

Meantime, enjoy your trips to the plastic dump and the sunshine!

R.

Thanks Ritchie and Sheila for the info. I guess I will be crossing the border to dump my plastic. It seems a bit crazy in such an advanced country like Switzerland! 

Hush!  It’s a well-kept secret that CH is not an “advanced” country.

Really had to laugh at your latest gem R!!!!

... neither a "civilized" one.

To the OP: The Canton of Geneva apparently does not recycle all plastics. PET containers are only for bottles having contained drinks, except milk; for these there are PE containers in proximity of supermarkets (I don't recall having seen these on the street). Bottles having contained shampoo, soap, detergents, or even oil or vinegar are not recyclable and must be disposed of in the normal waste.

Just checking to see if there are any updates applicable to this thread?

We're using an eco point to recycle anything marked PET, and our local grocery store for things like milk cartons.  What about other plastics (e.g., yogurt cups, which have the recycling symbol on them)?

Thanks for any tips!

This is a good video in English about recycling plastics in Switzerland:

https://www.swissinfo.ch/fre/multimedia/durabilit%C3%A9_pourquoi-les-suisses-ne-recyclent-ils-pas-plus-de-plastique-/44088114

Waste is not buried but incinerated and the energy is retrieved. Doesn't avoid air pollution, I know. And I agree it's not a good feeling to be binning packaging....

This is the website of the Confederation on all recycling in English:

https://www.bafu.admin.ch/bafu/en/home/topics/waste/guide-to-waste-a-z/plastics.html

Finally, this is a document in French about why other plastics are not recycled in Switzerland. It shows that in Germany, the yellow bags which collect composite plastics, are in fact incinerated for the most part.Composite plastic is difficult to valorise as it is tainted and not easily transformed.

http://www.swissrecycling.ch/fileadmin/rd/pdf/wertstoffe/kunststoff/20160513_FB_KST_f.pdf

Switzerland may appear as being slow on the uptake for recycling plastics but it's not necessarily true. They take longer to test new methods to see what is best in the long term.

Which grocery stores in Geneva will take, as the video mentioned, plastic bottles for items such as shampoo? Please advise of any specific locations. Thanks!

There are recycling points for plastics in these supermarkets:

Coop Bernex: https://goo.gl/maps/AZh1mrhWGd22

Migros Eaux-Vives: https://goo.gl/maps/gfren5mTP3ZvCnqV9