Fines against pollution: Up to CHF 300 for chewing gum on the floor

Switzerland
Fines against pollution: Up to 300 francs fine for chewing gum on the floor

Garbage left behind piles up on the roadside in the city of Zurich

© WALTER BIERI / Picture Alliance

In the fight against pollution, the Swiss Environment Commission has now spoken out in favor of standardizing the corresponding sanctions. And they turn out to be high.

Switzerland has a garbage problem – in rural areas, and especially in big cities. As soon as the weather is good and invites you to picnic, barbecue and Co., people are drawn outside, especially on weekends. And with them comes the garbage. Because after the meetings are over, this is often left behind. Empty beer bottles, packaging and leftover food then adorn all the popular meeting places.

Switzerland declares war on rubbish

In order to tackle the existing waste problem, Switzerland now wants to find uniform regulations. Because a national strategy against the so-called Littering does not exist yet. The garbage is not only a problem for the environment and the cityscape, its disposal also costs a lot. The city of Basel, for example, pays around 21 million francs (approx. 19.9 million euros) a year for cleaning, of which around a third is spent on combating careless pollution.

There are no current figures on how high the cleaning costs are nationwide. A study by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment in 2011 came to a total of around 200 million francs (approx. 189 million euros) per year.


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High fines planned

The Commission for the Environment, Spatial Planning and Energy (Urek) of the Swiss National Council is now planning uniform regulations through the national environmental protection law and in some cases provides for high penalties. The President of the Commission, Bastien Girod of the Greens, declares “Littering pollutes the environment, prevents recycling and affects public spaces”. In the report on the parliamentary initiative “Strengthening the Swiss Circular Economy”, the Commission gives examples of when which punishment should apply.

For example, anyone who leaves the packaging of their fast food snacks instead of throwing them in the trash should pay a fine of up to 300 francs (approx. 284 euros). The same applies to chewing gum or cigarettes that are thrown on the sidewalk, as well as newspapers or other packaging. The only difficulty would be to catch the garbage sinners in the act, says Matthias Nabholz, head of the Department for Environment and Energy.

Opinions differ

At the moment there is still a dispute in Switzerland about how proportionate the high fines are. Politician Mathhias Jauslin (FDP) speaks out clearly in favor of increasing the penalties. This sends out a “clear signal” that pollution will not be tolerated, says Jauslin. Environmental psychologist Ralph Hansmann sees the fines as too high. “When it comes to a handkerchief (handkerchief, Note d. Red.) or a single cigarette butt goes, then CHF 300 is disproportionately high and therefore questionable. “

Politician Mike Egger (SVP) also criticizes the planned measures and is in favor of tackling the problem in the first place. He suggests educational work in schools so that the pupils learn “the consequences of littering” at an early stage, says Egger. For example, it could be shown how the leftover waste affects cows if they eat it while grazing.

Sources: view, Day indicator

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