Subscriptions for compost depend on your building. Ask your landlord whether your building already does composting. If they do, it's likely that you're already paying the subscription to the building manager as part of your rent and can use the bins that are in front of the building. In your case, it's more likely that your building doesn't do composting because the bins across the street probably belong to another building. The downside is that if you hope to buy a subscription while living in an apartment, your landlord and building managers have to approve it, which the manager will only do it if the whole building does it together. So, if your building doesn't already do it, then it's slim to none that you'll get to join the green bin system.
The alternative is to get a permit allowing you to keep a composting bin on your balcony, but you have to use a certain type of bin and go through the city to have it all up to code.
I asked my building manager and he showed me a compost bin for the ETH housing that is not a dumpster, but a stationary place where I can compost my kitchen scraps. He suggested that I not use the one across the street, as I had suspected.
I am still a bit confused about what happens with non-newspaper paper, e.g. packaging mainly (especially eggboxes), but also unneeded letters, junkmail. In the UK this would go in recycling. It seems like in ZH this should go into the Zurisack, and the high price for the Zurisacks pays for someone further down the line to sort and recycle this. Is that right?
The thing that's confusing me is that my local Migros has a recycling point, which seems to be used for packaging, but is too small for everyone to fit there recycling into it. (It also has a non-PET flasche recycling bin, which also confuses the plastic recycling choices...) Any ideas what is supposed to be the right option?
Never put into rubbish sacks, if found you could be fined.
You return to the shop you got it. Some recycling centres have a place for them. Many large supermarkets have these hole in the wall you can put them, have noticed them with both Migros and Coop, along with hole for lightbulbs and a couple of other holes for two other things. They are within the supermarket. Noticed someone else also mentioned Spar, rarely shop there so had not noticed. In electronic shops you might find a box near the cashier for used batteries or you might have to ask where it is.
In regards to the bulk of cardboard stacks, we bundled up all our boxes from our Ikea furniture and they took it. The stacks were probably 4 ft x 2 ft. I assume as long as it is easy to pick up and throw they will take it but maybe we were just lucky!
Regarding the Bioabfall and Biocontainer, I have a question just to make sure that I have got it right and that I don't get a fine. Do you know if I can throw in this container the leftovers from my cooking there (like I would through them in the garbage disposal in the kitchen in another country)?
I was walking behind a woman carrying an largish open bag and couldn't help but see what was inside, full of empty plastic yogurt pots, used grocery plastic... i thought what is she going to do with that?
so i followed her
At the zugerland (steinhausen, cham, zug area) there is a 'migros' recycling centre and one of the holes in the wall says you can deposit 'weich plastic'?
i couldn't believe my eyes, one of my bugbears is that my garbage is full of one use plastic. If i can bring it there, i'll be using one 17l garbage bag per year
anyway you can also deposit all sorts of plastic bottles there too
I can get my migros bio quark fix too.
(ok, zugerland migros is not zürich but maybe the zurich mega migros do the same thing?)