Waste management

A recent article in the "Berner Zeitung" stated that the amount of garbage produced by the European Community (EC) is estimated at 2,000 million tons a year. The EC Commission reflected its concern in 1990 in a report stating that the formation of the European Economic Area (EEA) and the related accelerated economic growth would lead to an increase in the output of waste. The main concern is that the limited capacity to dispose of this waste. At present, waste disposal in the EC occupies two million workers and involves a turnover of between 180 and 360 billion Swiss francs a year. Most EC members rely on building new incineration units rather than concentrating on reducing waste. Furthermore, the EEA principle of free transit of goods favours the unhindered circulation of waste. According to the "Berner Zeitung", [...]

Sequenzen:
0: [...] after 1993 it will be difficult to maintain current import restrictions on waste from other EC countries because of the tendency to consider waste under the category of goods. As Switzerland is considering closer ties to the EC and the EEA, such tendencies are of primary concern. The article quotes the latest world competitiveness report by the Lausanne International Institute for Management Development and the World Economic Forum.
1: The report says that Switzerland is a world leader in the field of recycling of raw materials from waste and in waste separation for reprocessing. Despite this, the quantity of waste here, as in other countries, is increasing faster than disposal capacity. The Federal Environment Office has launched a nationwide campaign which aims at reducing the amount of waste generated by manufacturers and consumers. According to Norbert Egli,
2: director of the National Waste Reduction Campaign, 80 per cent of the public considers waste to be packaging. In reality, this makes up only 20 to 40 per cent of all waste, furniture and electronic items forming the largest part. According to him, recycling alone would not bring down the amount of waste. Awareness of the problem and changes in consumer buying habits were just as important factors.
3: The Swiss consumer produces 400 kilograms of household waste per person per year. To change this, the idea that waste reduction and lower consumption go hand in hand, would have to be promoted and new production strategies implemented. According to the Federal Environment Office, waste could be reduced not just through recycling, separation and treatment but by better utilisation of existing composting installations.