QualiCycle – Initiative for high-quality plastic recycling in Switzerland
Around 790,000 tons of plastic waste are produced in Switzerland every year - but only a fraction of this is recycled. Although plastics offer many advantages for our everyday lives, their current use and disposal cause major environmental pollution and an enormous consumption of resources. The pressure to develop circular solutions is growing, particularly in the area of food packaging. The EU demands [...]
Teaching development Resource management
Sustainable resource management is an important part of the environmental engineering degree program at ETH Zurich. In the lectures Waste Technology, Waste Recycling Technologies and Waste Management and Circular Economy, Bachelor's and Master's students are taught the necessary knowledge and skills. Between September 2019 and February 2025, Dr. Melanie Haupt and Dr. Maja Wiprächtiger took over the management of all three lectures. [...]
All-in-One: The Revolution in Plastics Recycling
Modern life is unimaginable without plastics, but the environmental impact of plastic waste must be drastically reduced. Currently, only about 8% of the plastics used in Switzerland are recycled. However, there is enormous potential in material recycling: increased material recycling is the key to conserving resources, reducing CO2 emissions and strengthening the […]
Sustainable Recycling Pathways for Fiber-Based Lightweight Packaging
Technical innovations and political efforts are leading to increased use of lightweight packaging made from paper and cardboard (P+C) based materials and other cellulose fiber products. Fiber-based lightweight packaging is used in combination with plastics, for example, and often contains residual contamination compared to newspapers and cardboard boxes. Existing P+C recyclers in Switzerland are not specialized in this type of lightweight packaging, […]
cycleworks – Closing the Loop PS Switzerland
Plastics have become indispensable in our everyday lives, but their use also leads to massive environmental pollution. A promising solution to mitigate these impacts is material recycling. Our exchange starts right here: Since 2020, stakeholders along the entire value chain have been committed to a closed loop for polystyrene (PS) food packaging. At the “Closing the Loop” round table […]
ScreenFood research project – for safe food and packaging
For three years, we will be supporting the European research project "Metrology for Food Safety in the Circular Economy: Targeting and Screening Methods for Contaminants in Food and Recycled Packaging," or "ScreenFood" for short, as an associated partner. The project aims to make food and food contact materials safe in the long term. To this end, measurement methods for detecting contaminants in food and [...]
VOBU Study «Requirement for Material Recycling of EPS and XPS Insulation Materials»
Initial situation Insulation materials greatly reduce the energy consumption of buildings. However, their production contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions in the construction industry. The production and energy recovery of expanded polystyrene (EPS) alone generates around 130,000 tons of CO₂ equivalents every year in Switzerland. With the predicted increase in deconstructed insulation materials, the question of sustainable recycling is becoming increasingly [...]
Use of recycled PS behind a functional barrier
The use of secondary materials in food packaging is a central element in the implementation of a circular economy for packaging. The utilization rates of secondary materials required in other European countries make the use of recycled plastics necessary in the food sector as well. However, this is associated with uncertainties regarding the quality of the secondary polymers and the migration behavior of contaminants. With the new regulation […]
cycleworks – Plastics in Construction
Background: Plastics in Construction. Plastics have become indispensable in the construction industry. Their technical properties enable a wide range of applications, through which they can make an important contribution to reducing the environmental impact. Approximately 23% of the annual Swiss consumption of plastics, amounting to 1 million tonnes, is used in the construction industry. But what happens to these […] after use?
Establishing closed-loop systems for food contact rPP (FCMrPP)
As part of an Innosuisse project, we collaborated with research and industry partners to investigate the feasibility of a closed-loop system for polypropylene (PP) food packaging in Switzerland. We simulated the first complete Swiss cycle for secondary PP in food applications, from the collection of post-consumer plastic waste to the production of test specimens. The focus was particularly on practical implementation, the […]