Waste and Resources Division

This division is responsible for Switzerland’s waste and resources policy and related aspects of the circular economy, and for the remediation of contaminated sites . It is also responsible for direct federal enforcement in transboundary movement of waste, the levying of prepaid disposal fees (glass bottles and batteries) and the levying of the CSRCO charge on landfilled waste.

The Waste and Resources Division

is responsible for the environmentally compatible recovery and disposal of waste and related aspects of the circular economy;
is responsible for supervision and enforcement at federal level;
promotes ecologically and economically efficient recycling of different types of waste;
is responsible for the levying of prepaid disposal fees (glass bottles and batteries);
supervises mandatory financing systems with prepaid disposal fees and supervises voluntary financing systems;
supports and harmonises cantonal enforcement of the Ordinance on the Avoidance and the Disposal of Waste (ADWO) in relation to landfills, construction waste, biodegradable waste, waste planning, reporting, waste analysis and waste disposal plants;
harmonizes and assists the Cantons in enforcing the Contaminated Sites Ordinance (CSO);
enforces the Ordinance on the Charge for the Remediation of Polluted Sites, is responsible for collecting the charge on landfilled waste and for assessing cantonal applications for compensation;
enforces the Basel Convention on the transboundary movement of waste for Switzerland and Liechtenstein and is responsible for direct federal enforcement in transboundary movement of waste;
supports the cantons in the enforcement of domestic movement of special wastes and other waste subject to regulatory controls.