Around 790,000 tons of plastic waste are generated in Switzerland every year – but only a fraction of this is recycled to a high standard. Particularly in the area of food packaging, the pressure to establish circular solutions is increasing. The EU is increasingly demanding the use of recyclates, but regulatory hurdles, technological challenges and a lack of infrastructure are hindering implementation. One thing is clear: a functioning circular economy for plastics can only succeed if all stakeholders along the entire value chain work together.
This is precisely where our project «QualiCycle – Platform for High-Quality Plastics Recycling Switzerland» comes in. It offers an open, cross-polymer platform that enables targeted exchange, mutual learning and the development of sustainable solutions – with a particular focus on applications in the food sector. The knowledge built up in various polymer-specific projects is to be bundled and further developed jointly in order to promote the circular economy more efficiently and effectively.
The project combines two central elements:
- cycleworks – High-Quality Plastics Recycling Switzerland: An exchange platform based on «cycleworks PS Kreislaufschliessung Schweiz», which has been promoting dialogue between stakeholders in the field of polystyrene since 2019. The exchange will now be opened up for other polymers and the topics will be expanded.
- Content-related processing of the topic: Joint development of concrete foundations and aids on topics such as regulations, quality assurance, collection and sorting.
The main topics include:
- Technological developments and best practices for high-quality plastics recycling
- Value chain-spanning issues, such as quality assurance and purity requirements
- Regulatory Framework
- Infrastructure Development in Switzerland
This project is aimed at companies, organizations, and institutions along the entire plastics value chain, regardless of the polymer type. Many challenges are not material-specific but affect the entire industry. Through cooperation and joint knowledge building, we want to create the basis for a circular plastics economy in Switzerland.
Are you interested in actively participating?
Then we look forward to you contacting us and to shaping the next stage of high-quality plastics recycling in Switzerland together with you.