Switzerland mulls nationwide uniform fine for littering

Nationwide uniform fine for littering Keystone-SDA

Littering in Switzerland could cost up to CHF300 ($372). On Wednesday, the Swiss government launched a consultation on an ordinance to introduce a national fine for this purpose.

Fines for littering already exist at cantonal and municipal level. At Parliament’s request, the government is planning a national penalty to replace the existing ones, for anyone over the age of 16 at the time of the offence.

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A fine of CHF100 could be imposed for throwing away or abandoning a single small piece of litter, such as a cigarette butt or a sandwich wrapper, the governing Federal Council said in a press release. The fine will rise to CHF200 if two or more items of litter are left behind.

“Small litter” means litter of no more than 35 litres. A fine of up to CHF300 may be imposed for municipal waste between 35 and 110 litres. For waste exceeding this volume, ordinary criminal proceedings will be initiated and the maximum fine will be CHF20,000.

The Federal Council has also opened a consultation on two other ordinances. One is designed to allow the recovery of recoverable metals such as zinc from fly ash from household waste incineration plants from 2026. The other aims to create nationwide separate collection of recoverable plastic packaging. The consultation period runs until October 16.

Bird protection

The government has also decided to bring into force on August 1 other ordinances aimed at strengthening the circular economy, i.e. prioritising reuse and recycling. One of the ordinances is aimed at cleaning up electricity pylons that pose an electrocution risk to birds.

The Federal Council notes that overhead power lines can be lethal to large birds. What’s more, a short-circuit caused by a bird can sometimes result in long power cuts. The amendment thus contributes to both bird protection and the security of the electricity supply.

The remediation measures will have to be implemented within different timeframes depending on the voltage level but by 2040 at the latest. They will now be implemented proactively, i.e. no longer only after an incident causing the death of a bird by electrocution.

Other ordinances that have been amended concern the export of waste, values for the remediation of contaminated sites and the management of watercourses.

Adapted from French by DeepL/ac

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