Tsüri.ch made November its circularity month, partnering with Greenbuzz and One Planet Lab Switzerland for their event Product longevity & repairability in Switzerland and beyond, and Repair Thursday is at the door! 

While Switzerland is quite advanced when it comes to recycling, repairability and avoidance of waste are also gaining momentum. In 2022 already, 14 organisations from all parts of Switzerland have formed the Long live our products coalition to support the transition to a true circular economy in Switzerland. The coalition wants to support the creation of a framework at federal level and encourage economic actors to further develop their offer in extending the lifespan of consumer goods. 

According to the OECD indicator on municipal waste (waste collected and treated by or for municipalities, included waste from households, commerce and trade, office buildings, businesses, yard and garden waste, street sweepings, litter containers and market cleansing), people in Switzerland generated 700 kgs of waste per person in 2021,  a trend that had been increasing since 1990. In particular, an average of over 23 kilos of electronic waste is disposed of per capita every year in Switzerland. Some electronic devices are indeed difficult to recycle because of their complexity and the variety of materials they contain. According to Joelle Herrin from Greenpeace and the Long live our product coalition, if we were to recondition mobile phones instead of producing new ones, we would use 80% less resources while also avoiding 4 to 5 times the CO2 emissions usually emitted.

With Repair Thursday on November 28th, the Zuerich repair association decided to make our life easier so we could repair objects instead of throwing them away. Repair Thursday sees workshops, repair businesses and dedicated craftspeople open their doors throughout Zurich. Driving force behind the working group for the creation of a repair and upcycling centre in the city of Zurich, the association offers an online platform mapping existing repair businesses (including the repair cafés that we already know!) and partner with Entsorgung und Recycling Zürich (ERZ), offering repair advice as part of the Mobile Recycling Centre pilot project.

As the association joyfully says, “Repair Thursday – an opportunity to finally get those repairs you keep putting off done – because throwing things away is not an option!” Be part of the movement!