Guide to waste: Keywords A–Z
A
Agricultural waste
Agricultural waste is waste arising from crop-growing or livestock farming in agricultural holdings.
Aluminium packaging
Collecting aluminium saves energy: 95 % less energy is required to produce packaging from recycled aluminium than from new material. Aluminium packaging can be disposed of at communal collection points. Fashionable coffee pods are accepted by retail outlets and communal collection points.
C
Cat litter
Almost one in three Swiss households has a cat. That's a lot of cat litter to dispose of. Cat litter can be either organic (e.g. plant fibres) or mineral (e.g. silica). All types of cat litter should be incinerated after use, as they may contain pathogens or traces of any medication the cat is on. Organic cat litter is preferable to other types of litter because when it is incinerated, it produces energy and leaves little residue.
CDs and DVDs
Music CDs, DVDs, Blue-ray discs and DVD ROMs: several billion of these shiny discs are placed on the global market every year. Because these data media contain valuable plastic, their recycling via retail outlets and collection points makes sense.
Chemicals
Chemicals often have properties that pose a threat to human health and the environment. Hence they present particular technical and organisational requirements in terms of their collection, transport and disposal.
Clothing and shoes
As clothing consumption per capita continues to rise, the pressure on the environment increases as well. Cotton production in particular uses up many resources and causes pollution. Curbing consumption and textile labels and recycling clothes and shoes domestically and abroad are good for the environment.
E
Effluent sludge
Effluent sludge is produced during the treatment of waste water in waste water treatment plants. Effluent sludge contains plant nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen, but also some heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, copper and zinc.
Electrical and electronic equipment
The number of electrical and electronic appliances and devices is rising while the operating life of individual products is declining. As a result, the volume of waste electrical and electronic equipment generated is constantly increasing. It is essential that such equipment be disposed of in an environmentally sound way to ensure that pollutants do not reach the environment and materials cycles are closed.
End-of-life vehicles
Two thirds of out-of-service cars in Switzerland are exported to other countries as used cars. The rest are classified as end-of-life vehicles. These are disposed of in Switzerland by specialised companies. These companies sell functioning parts for use as replacement parts, remove harmful substances from the vehicles and recover metals for use as raw materials.
Energy-saving lamps
Energy-saving lamps contain mercury and recyclable metals. For this reason they must not be disposed of in a waste disposal bag along with household refuse. They can be returned free of charge at the point of sale or at collection points.
Excavated material
"Excavated material" refers to waste consisting mainly of rock and earth excavated during construction of infrastructure (tunnels, culverts etc.) and buildings.
G
Green waste
Green waste consists mainly of plant waste originating in communities, private house-holds and agriculture. Green waste includes, for example, cuttings from trees, bushes and lawns or waste resulting from roadside and park maintenance.
H
Human waste
Human waste (urine and faeces) collected in mobile toilets and other facilities and which is not disposed of the sewage system is treated as refuse. It must be processed either in a waste water treatment plant or burnt in a municipal waste incinerator.
M
Medical waste
Specific requirements in terms of collection, intermediate storage, transport and processing apply in relation to medical waste. The aim here is to avoid any possible risk to public health or work safety. Hence hazardous waste must be collected separately.
Metals
Waste metal is an important industrial raw material. The melting of scrap metal saves resources and energy as compared with the use of newly extracted ores. Metal waste that contains hazardous substances or electronic components should be treated separately during disposal.