Facts and figures

Since 1994, Swico has provided tailored collection and recycling solutions and ensures that equipment is disposed of professionally and in an environmentally friendly manner.

Swico Recycling comprises around 600 collection points and processes approximately 40,000 tonnes of electrical waste each year - that equals an average of 10 million devices, with a trend towards lighter equipment.

This recycling is regulated in Switzerland through an advance recycling fee (ARF): consumers pay a fee ranging from a few pence to several francs, depending on the device.

The money flows into dedicated, earmarked funds. These funds finance all services - from collection to transport and recycling through to quality control and administration.

Adjustment of the Advance Recycling Fee as of 1.1.2026

For Swico Recycling to meet legal requirements over the years, the Swico Recycling Board has determined that reserves must cover a minimum of 12 months and a maximum of 18 months of annual expenditure. These reserves will shrink in 2025 for the following reasons:

• Costs in the collection points and logistics sector have increased since the last adjustment: heavy vehicle tax, congestion surcharges, container costs, rising fuel costs, etc.
• At processing facilities / recyclers, wage and energy costs have risen, but additional work has also arisen due to the increasing complexity and miniaturisation of devices. Further costs have emerged due to growing fire risk from the wider spread of lithium-ion batteries. In return, recyclers' revenues have decreased due to declining recoverable material yields.
• For collection/collection points, wage and energy costs have increased on one hand. More devices were delivered (+ 1,000,000 devices at the same weight), leading to additional work. Additionally, the collection process is being expanded to favour separation of devices with/without lithium-ion batteries.

In total, remuneration in recycling/processing increases by an average of 65%; collection costs increase by 10% and logistics costs by 15%.

With the tariff adjustments for 2026, we ensure sustainable financing is guaranteed, though this will only be fully reflected in revenues from the 2027 financial year onwards:

Billing occurs in a financial year for the 2nd semester of the previous year and the 1st semester of the current year respectively.

Conclusion: 

The moderate adjustment takes account of developments over the past 10 years and ensures contractual security until 2030.