![]() ![]() Microplastics from tyre wear also come into play, as do microfibres from synthetic clothing – about a third of the clothing sold in Europe today is entirely synthetic. In March 2021, school classes from Switzerland and Liechtenstein collected almost 1 million cigarette butts in a fortnight – and thus prevented the pollution of 38.3 million litres of water. Next to packaging, cigarette butts are the most frequently discarded. Every day around 0.26 kg of plastic waste ends up in the bin – or in nature. Almost 100 kilos per person - Switzerland's harmful plastic waste cultureĪs a result of the aforementioned 127 kg plastic consumption, every person in Switzerland produces an average of 95 kg of plastic waste per year. ![]() The floodplains of Switzerland’s nature reserves are also polluted with an estimated 53 tonnes of microplastic and even in the snow of the Alps and in remote mountain lakes, considerable amounts of microplastic have been found. By now, an estimated 580 tonnes of plastic are said to have accumulated in the lake. ![]() Lake Geneva alone absorbs about 55 tonnes of plastic every year, most of it as microparticles. A study of Swiss lakes conducted in 2013 showed: almost every sample contained the tiny plastic particles. Far more invisible are tons of microplastics. A full 100 tonnes of macroplastics – plastic pieces larger than 0.5 centimetres – end up in Swiss waters and 4,400 tonnes in the soil. But the second biggest problem is waste: 2,700 tonnes of plastic waste are released into the environment every year. Around two thirds of this comes from the abrasion of car tyres (8,900 tonnes). Tons of microplastics in lakes and soils: an invisible oil spill in SwitzerlandĮvery year, 14,000 tonnes of macro- and microplastics enter the Swiss environment. OceanCare is advocating internationally for a global plastics treaty and the limitation of plastics – along the entire life cycle: from extraction, production, and use, to disposal and reuse of plastic.īecause rivers are the roots of the oceans – the sea also has its origins in Switzerland. Millions of tonnes of plastic waste float in five huge plastic gyres, with the Pacific gyre being almost forty times larger than Switzerland. Every year, around 17,600 tonnes of plastic end up in the Mediterranean Sea alone. By now, all oceans are affected by plastic waste, remote beaches as well as the seabed of Antarctica. The ocean starts in SwitzerlandĮvery year, around 9 million tonnes of plastic end up in the world’s oceans. Now it is the Federal Council’s turn to systematically solve the plastic problem,” so Fabienne McLellan. The Swiss population itself also clearly wants interventions, as our recent survey showed. With the adoption of the Plastic Resolution in March 2022, the United Nations Environment Assembly also called for national action plans to combat plastic pollution. “Switzerland is a laggard compared to its EU neighbour countries when it comes to measures against single-use plastics. Fabienne Mclellan, Managing Director OceanCare. “Switzerland must face its responsibility when it comes to plastic waste internationally, and at home”. Political action required – Consistent implementation of existing laws is needed.Eyewash: Plastic recycling poses challenges and is not an ideal material for a circular economy.Littering costs Switzerland around 200 million CHF a year.Recycling myth: 85-90% of Swiss plastic waste is incinerated.127 kg per year per person: Switzerland has one of the world’s highest levels of plastic consumption.The international marine conservation organisation OceanCare is campaigning strongly in its own country to apply laws consistently so that Switzerland can get a grip on its plastic problem. Self-regulation by the industry functions only inadequately and existing laws are not applied. Whether it is packaging waste and other disposable plastic or microplastic, the environmental damage caused by the ever-increasing overconsumption of plastic cannot be made up for with recycling. The factual analysis in the OceanCare report “Plastic Matters” reveals sobering weaknesses: Switzerland consumes more plastic per capita than almost any other country in the world. Switzerland has a significant plastic problem. ![]()
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