BuilderScrap.com is looking into the Recycling effort around the world

We know the UK government is trying to encourage more people to recycle their waste and reduce the UK’s waste mountain. Figures suggested in 2005 that 60% of all household waste could be recycled or composted, but the largest nation in the UK, England, appears to be reusing only 17.7%.

We’ve found some articles from BBC correspondents that provide a snapshot of how the UK’s European neighbours and other countries approach recycling of everyday rubbish.

Todays country is: SWITZERLAND: Imogen Foulkes investigates.

Switzerland is proud of its recycling efforts, and with good reason. Glass and paper are just some of the things the average Swiss refuses to simply throw away.

There are bottle banks at every supermarket, with separate slots for clear, green and brown glass. Every town has a free paper collection once a month, and that does not mean just old newspapers; most people recycle everything made of cardboard or paper, from cereal packets to old telephone bills.

Then there is green waste. If you have a garden, all the trimmings can be put out on the street (neatly bundled of course) every two weeks, and they will be collected.

Aluminium and tin can be taken to local depots, batteries handed over at the supermarket, and old oil or other chemicals deposited at special sites.

Plastic PET bottles are the most common drinks containers in Switzerland, and 80% of them are recycled – far higher than the European average of 20 to 40%.

But the Swiss do not recycle just because they care about the environment. There is a strong financial incentive. Recycling is free, but in most parts of Switzerland throwing away rubbish costs money – each rubbish bag has to have a sticker on it, and each sticker costs at least one euro (60 pence).

So the less you throw out, the less you pay. No sticker? Then the rubbish will be left outside your house to rot.