No more free disposal Recycling bags are spreading - this now has unpleasant consequences for Coop customers
Anyone who previously handed in shampoo or milk bottles free of charge at Coop is now in for a surprise: in several regions, customers have to pay for disposal. Migros, on the other hand, is sticking to its free take-back policy.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- Coop introduces chargeable recycling bags for plastic packaging.
- There are no more free containers in pilot regions.
- Migros wants to continue to accommodate customers free of charge.
The introduction of the new nationwide recycling system Recypac is causing many Coop customers to frown. Until recently, shampoo and detergent bottles could be disposed of free of charge in the stores, but Coop is now requiring such packaging to be collected in the new, chargeable Recybags at the first locations.
These purple bags cost between one and four francs, depending on their size. "That's cheeky," a customer from St. Gallen, who only found out about this at the checkout, told the Aargauer Zeitung newspaper. Although Coop emphasizes that the bags offer more space and can also hold other plastics such as yoghurt pots or salad bowls, the bottom line is that you save money compared to the normal garbage bag. However, there is no neutral cost calculation for this.
The measure is already in place in several cantons, including Zurich, Bern and Basel. Coop justifies the move to the newspaper with the high cost of collection and sorting. Where Recypac has been introduced, the previous free collection for so-called PE bottles has therefore been discontinued.
Migros relies on goodwill
Competitor Migros is taking a completely different stance: it is continuing to maintain its free collection points for shampoo, milk and detergent bottles. Spokesman Tobias Ochsenbein refers to the aim of recovering as many recyclable materials as possible and not burdening customers with additional hurdles.
Meanwhile, the Recypac system itself continues to expand. Basel, Zurich and other municipalities have granted new concessions, which means that over 700,000 people now have access to the Recybags. The bags are available in supermarkets and at recycling centers.
For many environmentally conscious customers, however, there is still a bitter aftertaste: those who want to recycle consistently will have to dig deeper into their pockets at Coop in future - or go to the competition.
