In 2002 around 75 per cent of used glass was recycled in Switzerland. Drinks
producers in Switzerland are
paying for the recycling of glass bottles, under a scheme introduced by the
Swiss Environment Agency.

SwissInfo reports that a tax slapped on bottle manufacturers and bottle
importers is being paid out to
communities that collect glass for recycling.

The Swiss Environment Agency introduced the tax in January 2002 and assigned
a firm, VetroSwiss, to collect it.
Through the scheme, between two and six centimes have been added to the
price of drinks in glass bottles. The
total income from this tax in 2002 came to a higher-than-expected SFr24.4
million ($18.1 million), of which
SFr18.4 will go directly to those communities involved in glass recycling.
The remainder of the sum will be held as
a reserve and to cover the costs of advertising campaigns.

The agency estimates that the handout will fund most of the cost of
collecting glass for recycling incurred by local
communities.

Swiss law

The notion of "polluter-pays" - in which the companies that manufacture
materials take responsibility for paying
for them to be recycled - is enshrined in both the law on the protection of
the environment and the Swiss
Constitution.

This law already applies to PET (plastic) bottles and aluminium cans,
although the recycling of these products is
managed by private businesses and not the authorities. The agency says it is
now up to local communities to
manage the money handed out to them for glass collection and to inform their
citizens on how it is spent.
VetroSwiss calculated that around 290,100 tons of used glass were collected
in 2002, down from 293,700 tons in
2001

You might also be interested in this piece, also from SwissInfo, but from
earlier in the summer.