From October 1st, consumers across Switzerland will be able to dispose of significantly more packaging waste, which will be processed into recycled material.

The organisation called RecyPac is planning a Switzerland-wide collection of beverage cartons and other plastic packaging that currently ends up in conventional waste.

The effort is backed by retail chains like Migros, Coop, Lidl, Aldi and Spar, as well as food producers Nestlé, Unilever, and Valora.

How will the new system work?

All municipalities have recycling bins or all kinds of materials, such as paper, carton, glass, aluminium, and coffee capsules.

There are likely containers in or near your neighbourhood; if not, you can take your recyclables to the communal dumpster.

This map shows where the one closest to you is located.

READ ALSO: What are Switzerland’s rules for waste disposal and recycling?

But milk and fruit juice cartons, as well as plastic packaging for salads, yogurts, and other foods — which don’t go into conventional recycle containers — still end up in ‘regular’ trash.

To remedy this lack, RecyPac will provide uniform collection bags to retailers throughout Switzerland, which will be cheaper than the taxed (cantonal) trash bag in most areas — though how much exactly they will cost is not yet known.

Other as-yet ‘unknowns’ are the drop-off locations of these bags — will you be bringing them to the same place as your other recyclables, or put them out for collection together with your regular trash?

This will be determined by each municipality and communicated to the local population.

It is therefore possible that while the new bags will be available for purchase at retailers from October 1st, the modalities of how they will be collected in your community still need to be fine-tuned.