Recycling of election and voting posters

Recycling of election and voting posters

InnoRecycling

The National Council and Council of States elections are coming up in October. Many candidates and parties will be advertising with a large number of posters. Most of these posters are made of pure plastic. A material that is particularly weather-resistant and well suited to outdoor advertising. But what happens to the advertising material after the elections and votes? After being used once, most posters are sent to waste incineration plants and incinerated, even though they would be ideal for recycling. We want to seize this opportunity!

They are currently hard to miss along the roads, in parks and in highly frequented places in villages and towns: election posters advertising the candidates for the National Council and Council of States elections.But what happens to the posters - which are usually made of weatherproof plastic - after the elections? Most of these so-called hollow chamber posters are sent to waste incineration plants for a fee after they have been used once and are incinerated there. However, as the majority of election and voting posters are made of unmixed polypropylene (PP), they are ideal for recycling.

48 collection points throughout Switzerland
We, InnoRecycling AG and our sister company InnoPlastics AG, have made a name for ourselves in the collection, trade and recycling of plastics for decades. With this latest initiative, we would like to recycle the polypropylene election posters produced for elections and votes. The network of collection partners throughout Switzerland has been activated for this purpose. After the election weekend of 21/22 October 2023, plastic posters can be handed in free of charge at 48 collection points throughout Switzerland. This new offer ensures that the posters remain in the Swiss material cycle and are recycled.

 

From election advertising to recycled product
The return system is simple. Candidates or their helpers simply have to remove any foreign material such as cable ties, adhesive tape or string from the plastic election posters. After being handed in free of charge at one of the 48 collection points, the posters are taken by the collection partners to the plant in Eschlikon TG, where they are recycled by InnoPlastics AG and processed into regranulate. This regranulate is then used to make new products.

Now it is up to the politicians, their election teams and their parties to keep their election promises, many of which are based on topics such as ecology and sustainability, and to start implementing the poster recycling campaign immediately after the election weekend.

 

More about the project and the collection point network