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Over 140,000 tonnes of electro gear recycled in Switzerland

Over 140,000 tonnes of electrical and electronic equipment recycled
Over 140,000 tonnes of electrical and electronic equipment recycled Keystone-SDA

In 2025, more than 140,000 tonnes of waste electrical and electronic equipment were recycled in Switzerland for the first time – around 144,000 tonnes, to be precise. This represents a 6% increase on the previous year, according to a report published on Monday.

The technical report was published by the specialist recycling companies Sens eRecycling and Swico Recycling. It says that an increase was recorded across almost all categories of equipment. Base metals continued to dominate the recovered materials, followed by plastics and mixed fractions.

The technical report also shows that the separation of particularly valuable and hazardous components has been further optimised.

In 2025, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) were systematically analysed for the first time in components recovered from the recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment. PFAS were detectable in many components at levels in the range of micrograms per kilogram.

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The report goes on to state that, for the first time, the two companies had drawn up a life cycle assessment of electrical and electronic recycling. According to the report, they achieved a so-called additional environmental benefit of 1,400 billion environmental impact points in 2025. This reduced Switzerland’s annual environmental impact by around 1%.

Translated from German, sub-edited by ts

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