Annual Report - Sens

Focus in 2012 :
revision of the VREG
Revision of the VREG / ORAREEA
The revision of the VREG marks a major change in direction for the future of the Swiss
recycling industry. To take full account of the interests of all the stakeholders and preserve
the huge benefits of the present ordinance, SENS, together with SWICO and SLRS
(Swiss Lighting Recycling Foundation), is taking an active role in the revision process.
The Ordinance on the Return and Recycling of Electrical and
Electronic Appliances (VREG / ORAREEA) requires dealers,
manu facturers and importers to take back all the appliances
in their product ranges free of charge, even if a customer does
not purchase another appliance. The purchase price of all VREG
appliances includes an advance recycling fee (ARF), based on
voluntary solutions on the part of the industry. Consumers for
their part are obliged to return appliances that have reached
the end of their useful life and are not allowed to dispose of
them as household waste or bulky items. Collecting, recycling
and disposing of electrical and electronic appliances has hitherto
been financed by the private sector: SENS and SWICO
operate the recycling system.
Why the revision?
At the end of 2010 the Federal Office for the Environment
decided to revise the VREG, which has been in existence since
1998. The main reason prompting this decision was what is
refer red to as the problem of people ‘jumping on the bandwagon’:
since paying the ARF on electrical and electronic
appliances is not a legal requirement, companies can take
advan tage of the recycling and waste disposal network provi
ded by the voluntary systems, without sharing the costs.
Another reason for the revi sion lies in the recently completed
revision of the relevant EC Directive (WEEE Directive). The
Federal Office for the Envir onment aims to introduce the revised
ordinance in 2013.
To enable all those involved to take an active part in the revision
process, the Federal Office for the Environment created
a VREG monitoring group that represents all the groups of
stakeholders: take-back and recycling systems, recycling companies,
cantonal authorities, and associations. The moni toring
group’s first task was to develop and discuss three possible
ways of implementing the revision: introducing a general obligation
like the one for battery recycling; retaining the voluntary
collection, recycling and waste disposal orga nised by the private
sector; introducing an obligation to pay the ARF, from
which those companies affiliated to a private take-back and
recycling system are exempt. Following detailed discussions,
the monitoring group took the decision to pursue the last
option further.
Strengthening the tried and tested approach
The introduction of an obligation to pay the ARF, from which
those companies affiliated to private take-back and recycling
systems are exempt, is intended to prevent the successful,
established procedure financed by the private sector, which
other countries consider exemplary, from being undermined by
an uncooperative minority. At the technical level the focus is
on bringing the Swiss solution (regarding relevant products,
collection groups, etc.) into line with the European directives
as far as possible.
The Federal Office for the Environment and the monitoring
group are continuing to concentrate their efforts on revising
the VREG, which will provide a future-oriented, sustainable
solution for the Swiss recycling industry. As a leading takeback
and recycling system, SENS will carry on doing all it can
to continue the success story of recent decades and further
strengthen Switzerland’s pioneering role in recycling.
VREG revision in brief
The Ordinance on the Return and Recycling of Electrical and
Electronic Appliances (VREG / ORAREEA) has been in force since 1998.
It aims to ensure that electric and electronic appliances are recycled
in an environmentally friendly way. The VREG is being revised in order
to help solve the problem of people ‘jumping on the bandwagon’,
which is encouraged by the hitherto voluntary system of finance by the
private sector, and ensure greater coherence and harmony between
this and the European WEEE regulations that now apply. The main aim
of the revision is to introduce an obligation to pay the ARF, from
which those companies affiliated to a private take-back and recycling
system are exempt.
SENS Annual Report 2011 7