The (Un)Wasted Wealth of Switzerland
I had no idea how impressive the numbers were. But I should have.
According to the very believable statistics of Recycling Switzerland, this country recycles slightly more than 50% of all the waste it produces.
And - that stat shows that each resident of Switzerland produces over 700kg of rubbish each year. That’s quite a lot.
But didn’t know any of this when I, as many others, pulled into the local Düring facility to dispose of my PET bottles and cardboard boxes from Zalando.
As every Saturday morning, the place was a-buzz. The containers were filling up fast and while the visitors, young and old, scurried back and forth, dumping and tossing with pleasant vigor.
This was the recycling culture of Switzerland at work.
I also believe that the entire waste business - that is to say the business of waste management in Switzerland - is one key to the wealth of the nation.
(Adam Smith might not have thought about it - but his famous The Wealth of Nations could probably be updated with a section on recycling…)
Recycling cake with a cherry on top
In the US and other major economies, strong consumerism has helped contribute to the relative wealth and contentment of the population. Cheap goods from China and clothes from Malaysia and food from Mexico.
Even the poorest construction worker can feel like a king with such an abundance - so much so that he or she will probably let half of it rot in the rubbish bin.
The plastic wrap and cardboard box from the latest Amazon purchase ends up in the bin too - without the least thought of sorting and recycling.
It’s a “poor practice” to be sure - but one that keeps the world’s largest economies humming.
By balancing a relatively high level of consumption with a strong culture of recycling and efficient waste management, Swiss society has managed to “have its cake and eat it too.”
‘Buy a lot, use most of it, but make sure to recycle what you don’t.’
And keep the “cycle” rolling. That is a key part of maintaining a country’s economy.
With increased immigration, the scale of entire cycle continues to grow.
Rich waster, poor waster
On a global scale, there is an interesting argument to be made - and a discussion to be had - about whether wealthier people in general tend to recycle more than those with lower incomes.
On the one hand, the richer you are, the more time you (usually) have on your hands. You may even have house staff to do the sorting and dumping for you.
And at least in Europe, there is a fairly good chance that your politics as regards the environment may be left-leaning, leading you to feel a certain religious fervor about separating PET from cans and glass from cardboard.
But then again, the wealthy can be extremely wasteful. I have seen it with my own eyes.
The more entitled you feel, the more you consume with reckless abandon - the more you may be tempted to believe that “the rules don’t apply to me” and toss your PET in the garbage bag without a second thought.
Whatever the actual numbers may show, there is a third aspect to consider. Few (if any) Swiss residents would ever claim that their country was ugly.
As a whole, they deeply value the natural beauty that greets them every single morning. And that makes everyone rich, in ways that money never can.
Of course there is the oft-referenced fact that in Switzerland, recycling is of paramount important since there really aren’t any places for landfills. (Besides the fact that they were effectively banned in the late 1990s and put out of use by 2000).
Preservation of the natural landscape and of natural resources speaks to the tendency of the wealthy to preserve what they have. And that is the attitude of wealth that
Wasting the treasure that is Switzerland’s exceptional natural heritage would be a tragedy indeed.