Switzerland’s clean image rubbished

"Watch your step" when you go for a walk along the lake in Zurich swissinfo.ch

A study has found the Swiss to be a nation of litterbugs.

Garbage-strewn streets in many town centres cast doubt on the clean and tidy image of Switzerland.

Fast food is largely to blame. According to the survey, people eating on the streets throw away a third of all the resulting rubbish.

The study was carried out by the University of Basel in five cities, including Basel, Zurich and Lausanne.

The findings have caused shock in Switzerland and prompted calls for concerted action.

The mass-circulation newspaper, “Blick”, declared the littering phenomenon a plague, predicting sombre consequences for the country: “Many towns will have even bigger problems on their hands if they soon don’t clean up their streets.

“No one wants to be in a rubbish-strewn place, except for vandals who will run riot.”

The “Neue Zürcher Zeitung” says littering has ruined Switzerland’s reputation as “a country known for its cleanliness” while the “Berner Zeitung” takes fast food outlets to task for not doing more to prevent littering.

“Littering cuts through all social classes and age groups,” said Esther Habermacher of the environmental organisation, Pusch. “The only thing these people have in common is a lack of respect for public places.”

Pusch has spearheaded an anti-litter campaign called “Trash is culture”.

“It’s a friendly appeal for people to show sense,” Habermacher continued.

“It works at home; the Swiss are very good at separating their rubbish in order to recycle paper and empty bottles.”

Zurich tip

“We refuse to accept the situation as it is,” Hans-Peter Berger of Zurich’s rubbish disposal unit told swissinfo.

For three years now, Switzerland’s financial capital has run a poster campaign calling on city residents to take more pride in their city by not littering.

But Berger does not think such campaigns can be effective in the long term.

He is putting more faith in the 500 new rubbish bins his department has placed around the city over the past few months.

“We think we now have enough bins in the right places and enough staff to make sure they are emptied quickly,” Berger added.

He says he would welcome the introduction of deposits on drinks cans and mineral water bottles as a way of reducing waste.

Bern gets tough

Bern has decided to take a tougher approach and has approved a new law on litter, which will come into force across the canton from June 1.

Anyone caught throwing away a cigarette butt will be liable for a fine of SFr40 ($31), even if the cantonal authorities do not intend on enforcing the letter of the new law.

“It’s not our goal to collect fines,” said Brigitte Bigler of the city of Bern administration.

“However, we expect the press coverage of the new law to act as a deterrent by making people more aware of the problem.”

Nor have the Bern authorities given up trying to be persuasive. They have relaunched their own poster campaign with pictograms forbidding littering, urinating or vomiting in public.

Concerned citizens are asked to report any mess to a special hotline so that it can be cleaned up as soon as possible.

swissinfo, Philippe Kropf in Zurich (translation: Dale Bechtel)

In brief

A third of all fast food packaging is left lying as litter on city streets.

The biggest fast food restaurant in Switzerland is McDonald’s while the two big Swiss retailers, Migros and Coop, have the largest takeaway services.

The trend to shorter lunch breaks has led to an increase in the number of shops offering takeaway food and fast food stands.

Most Swiss cities have attempted to combat the problem by launching public relations campaigns.