Many municipalities in Switzerland do not offer recycling of the box-based packaging typically used for milk in Switzerland.
Despite ecological proclamations and a papery look these boxes are a bit of a eco-wolf in environmentally friendly sheep’s clothing. They are made of a composite material that is difficult to separate into its constituent parts making them costly and difficult to recycle.
Unlike the composite boxes, bottles made from polyethylene terephthalate (street name: PET), can simply be sorted by colour, ground into flakes, cleaned, processed into granules and used to make new bottles. PET is one of a few materials that is recycled almost universally across Switzerland.
From next week, Coop, one of Switzerland’s two dominent retail groups, will offer organic milk in PET bottles in eastern Switzerland and Ticino, reported RTS. Although it has not yet announced plans to go further.
Migros, Switzerland’s other main retail group, is reportedly following developments closely but has not yet announced plans to offer milk in PET.
More on this:
RTS article (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
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