SENS

25 years of the SENS Foundation – we are using this important anniversary as an opportunity to take a moment for reflection, look back with satisfaction on what we have achieved and devise ambitious visions and plans for the years ahead.

On 17 September 2015, we had the honour of celebrating the 25th anniversary of SENS in the glass hall of the Trafo congress centre in Baden. What did the political landscape in Switzerland look like in these founding years? And where do we stand today?

As early as 1986, we in Switzerland were already pioneers with the simple, but ultimately visionary, waste model “vermeiden, vermindern, verwerten, verbrennen, deponieren” (avoid, reduce, utilise, burn, dispose). In 1990, we took our first steps in the proper recycling of electrical and electronic appliances – one year later, SENS then developed the concept for the proper recycling of refrigerators in cooperation with the Swiss Professional Association for Electrical Appliances in Household and Industry (FEA). Further milestones followed in 2003: based on the SENS OnlineSystem and coinciding with the introduction of the advance recycling fee (ARF), the SENS complete disposal system started with 65 FEA members as well as the wholesalers Carrefour, Conforama, Coop, Fust, Interdiscount, Jumbo and Migros. The private sector for its part has seized the initiative in adopting the principle of “manufacturer responsibility”, in which manufacturers, importers and retailers assume responsibility for the products they release onto the market until these have reached the end of their service life. By putting forward persuasive and convincing arguments, SENS has played an essential role in seeing this principle adopted. Ludwig Hasler, a philosopher and journalist, captivated us all as he took us on an exciting journey through the history of SENS.

And of course, an anniversary celebration would not be just that without being accompanied by social and culinary delights. Those in attendance enjoyed themselves immensely, chatted a great deal and filled the room with laughter as they savoured the food and drink on offer. Stefan Heuss provided entertainment with his ingenious inventions, which he fashioned from recycled materials – upcycling at its finest.

We of course do not want to miss out on the opportunity to thank everybody who took the time to celebrate this special event with us. We will approach the next 25 years with great motivation and ambition. Our vision here is clear: together with you, we will lead Switzerland into a sustainable future in the recycling of electrical and electronic appliances. You can find out more in our strategy – read about it for yourself.

The word “reorganisation” does not only have positive connotations. A grey advisory eminence, sullenly sneaking through the corridors and cutting jobs in a radical manner – an image straight from the movies. Fortunately, this is not a scene that we at SENS are familiar with. We have composed ourselves as a team and reorganised ourselves in order to enable the organisation to optimally focus on customer benefits. As part of our reorganisation, it is seasoned SENS employees who are now working for you with a stepped-up mission in our new Customers and Partners department.

Hand in hand with the revised Strategy 2020, we are pushing ahead with the new assignment of responsibility at SENS. For example, the Customer Care & Operations departments are now to be known as Customers and Partners. As the name suggests, this team will focus on customer benefits. Susan Morrone, Nadia Epp and Peter Schürch are all long-standing SENS employees who seek innovative, flexible solutions for our customers each and every day. They reveal in a personal discussion what is important to them in their new function.

The constructive collaboration between the Board of Trustees, the ARF Committee and the Head Office is intensified and optimised on an ongoing basis with a view to guaranteeing the quality of the take-back system.

> Founders, Board of Trustees, ARF Committee, PDF

The willingness of our partners to meet their environmental responsibility is the foundation of our day-to-day work. We work together to help close the cycles.

> Focus on our customers and partners, PDF

What do we want to achieve over the next four years with SENS? What foundations are already in place? And what are our key principles here? During a strategy workshop, we once more reviewed the basis on which we work – namely our strategy – and developed four supporting pillars for our future.

Our vision

We will lead Switzerland into a sustainable future in the recycling of electrical and electronic appliances.

The four pillars of our strategy

Commitment to sustainability

SENS is committed to sustainability and takes account of economic, environmental and social considerations in performing its daily work. We advocate the conservation of natural resources and the efficient handling of energy, work to ensure the use of efficient processes and exploit synergies where they arise. SENS acts as a fair employer and strives to establish long-term customer relationships based on trust. 

Organisational structure geared towards customer benefits

SENS is a system comprising manufacturers and retailers and is managed as such. We find innovative, flexible solutions in order to satisfy customer wishes. While the processes are standardised, we create tailored variants for our customers. Personnel and economic resources are utilised in a way that allows for the needs of our customers to be met. Our growth is moderate and sustainable in nature. New products and services are developed with a view to both existing and new customers. We define ourselves as a hub and service centre for all categories of electrical and electronic appliances that are subject to the ORDEE. We strongly advocate mixed categories with the objective of reducing the reporting and billing workload of our contractual partners.

Focus on ensuring an economic and transparent system

SENS strives to generate a balanced fund result and takes appropriate measures in order to achieve this objective. This means optimising processes and reducing costs on an ongoing basis, while also working on strategies aimed at closing gaps in revenues.

We support Switzerland as a recycling location. At the same time, we demand and promote transparency in our information, material and financial flows. SENS systematically guides service providers along the disposal chain and proves itself to be a reliable and predictable negotiating partner. We strive to find possibilities for cooperation with partner systems (Swiss Lighting Recycling Foundation [SLRS], Swico, Inobat) in order to generate synergies.

Systematic handling of trends

SENS positions itself as an information platform for contractual partners, collection points, recycling companies and consumers. We assess current trends (technology trends in the areas of digital lifestyle, the Internet of things, robotics, 3-D printing, nanotechnology, etc.), identify the consequences for recycling, increase the relevant knowledge and master these issues. We pass on this expertise via various channels and are thus perceived as an important contact partner for electronic waste recycling. Based on our knowledge, we develop new services and products in the role of a trendsetter and position ourselves accordingly with our customers. We regularly exchange information with foreign take-back systems and actively follow disposal trends, in particular in Europe.