Take part in the Deckeli cap collection campaign!

Help the environment and other people, and have fun doing it: Set up a container and collect plastic caps! These small caps can make a big difference. They can provide a warm meal for those in need or support the wages of local workers. And the best part is, it's fun to collect the caps! Everyone can join in, whether at home, at work, in their free time, or in a club.

Do you know this? You unscrew the plastic cap from the spice jar, and while the jar ends up in the recycling container, the cap ends up in the household waste. Or the milk is empty, you unscrew the cap, crush the Tetra Pak, and dispose of it in the trash, usually together with the plastic cap. But these caps can offer people around the world the chance for a better life: They can provide a warm meal, create jobs, or provide school supplies for children in disadvantaged communities. By selling the collected caps to a professional recycler, we generate additional money for our projects, which is exactly what makes this possible.

To take part in the cap collection, you don't need much: a collection container that you no longer need anyway (like Aunt Elsa's fruit bowl that has been sitting in the cupboard for years), and the support of your family, friends, and colleagues. Collect at home, in the office, or in a club and send the caps to Buy Food with Plastic. If you drop off the collected caps in person at the Charity Gallery, there is a delicious coffee or tea as a thank you 😊. We sell the collected hard plastic to a professional recycler in Switzerland. The proceeds go entirely to our projects in Nicaragua, Ghana, India, and Switzerland. This is how we finance community events, rents for workshops, employees' wages, and ongoing costs. Not least, we close the plastic cycle in Switzerland, protect the environment, and the participants have fun with the campaign.

Cap collection campaign in the Buy Food with Plastic Charity Gallery.

Millions of valuable plastic caps end up in the trash every year

Is collecting caps in Switzerland even worth it? Absolutely! Because despite the high PET recycling rate in Switzerland, millions of plastic caps end up in the trash every year. While PET and other plastic bottles are recycled, the caps of these and other packaging such as Tetra Paks, spice bottles, and Nutella jars often end up in the trash. This means that valuable material is lost that could be used to manufacture new products. Our collection campaign uses this resource to take an important step: incorporating plastic into the production chain to close the plastic cycle. This is already happening in our areas of operation in Nicaragua, Ghana, India, and now also in Switzerland.

Companies as partners: Local communities are already involved

Companies are also warmly invited to take part in the cap collection. This can happen in various ways, whether by placing collection containers in company premises, special collection containers at PET recycling, or motivating employees to get involved individually.

The Züri rännt running group already joined the campaign in August 2023. Co-founder Robert Peterhans was immediately enthusiastic about the idea of separating new caps and rings from plastic bottles during the monthly Züri rännt plogging (picking up litter while jogging) and dropping them off for a good cause at the Charity Gallery. "If we can combine our passion – running – with a further commitment, we are of course happy to join in!“, says Robert about the running group's involvement.

Plogging combines running with picking up litter. Züri rännt organizes such runs in Zurich and ensures, as here with guests from the Zunft Riesbach guild, a beautiful and clean environment. (Photo: Züri rännt)

The Hotel Hottingen (a business of the PRO FILIA, Cantonal Association Zurich) is also taking part in the collection campaign. Selami Haziri, accountant at the hotel, also takes part in the Züri rännt! runs and was thus made aware of the campaign. Managing Director Roger Giger immediately agreed to have the hotel take part in the cap collection: "We see great potential in this initiative and are ready to do our part. Numerous plastic caps are generated in our restaurant business, and if these can be used for charitable purposes, we are happy to support this." Hotel Hottingen is more than a place of hospitality. Thanks to its ownership, the hotel already makes a significant contribution to promoting social projects. It is therefore a special pleasure for us to have the support of such a socially committed partner.

Cap collecting: A simple superpower!

The basic idea of the collection campaign is very simple: Instead of throwing away plastic caps, collect them and help others. The collected caps are sold, and the proceeds support projects in Nicaragua, Ghana, and India. "However, our goal is to create new, useful products from these caps", explains Khalil, our co-founder. "Maybe we will even open our own upcycling factory in Switzerland in the future", he adds with a wink.

These types of hard plastic are welcome
Whether from PET bottles, spice bottles, Tetra Paks, or shampoo bottles: We gladly accept plastic caps made of hard plastic with the marking 02 (PE-HD) and 05 (PP). You can find this number inside the caps, in the small recycling triangle. Rings are also welcome. Every piece of plastic counts and is a step towards greater environmental friendliness and sustainability. We look forward to numerous supporters! Do you have ideas on how you can motivate others to join in? Or would you like to share a picture of your collection with us? Join in and become part of this important movement that does good, protects the environment, and helps people in need. Together we can achieve a lot!

You can find the number of the hard plastic we collect inside the caps, in the recycling triangle.