The “littering” could cost dearly in Switzerland

A fine of 100 francs can be pronounced when a person throws a megot on the ground.Image: Shutterstock

The Federal Council wants to standardize the sanctions provided for the “littering” at the national level. The order provides fines up to 300 francs.

Throwing waste on the public highway (“littering”) in Switzerland can cost up to 300 francs. The Federal Council opened a consultation on Wednesday on an order to introduce a national fine in this sense.

Currently, fines against the “littering” already exist at cantonal and municipal levels. At the request of the Parliament, the government provides for a national sanction which will replace those existing, against anyone over 16 years of age at the time of the facts.

Criminal procedure for large waste

Thus, a fine of 100 francs can be pronounced when a person throws or abandons a single small waste, for example a megot or a sandwich packaging, the Federal Council said in a press release. The fine will amount to 200 francs when two or more waste is abandoned.

Will be considered as “small waste” those not exceeding 35 liters. A fine of up to 300 francs may be ordered for urban waste between 35 and 110 liters. For waste exceeding this volume, an ordinary criminal procedure is initiated and the maximum amount of the fine may reach 20,000 francs.

The Federal Council also opened a consultation on two other orders. One should allow, from 2026, the recovery of valuable metals, such as zinc, in the flying ashes of the incineration plants of household waste. The other aims to create, at the national level, a separate collection of the packaging in valuable plastic. The consultation period runs until October 16.

Protect birds

The government has still decided to bring into force on August 1 of other orders aimed at strengthening the circular economy, that is to say to prioritize reuse as well as recycling. One of the prescriptions aims to clean up the electric pylons presenting a risk of electrocution for birds.

The airlines can be fatal for large -scale birds, notes the Federal Council. In addition, a short circuit caused by a bird can sometimes give rise to long power cuts. The modification thus contributes both to the protection of birds and to the safety of the supply of electricity.

Sanitation measures will have to be implemented as soon as possible depending on the level of tension, but at the latest in 2040. They will now be implemented proactively, that is to say more only after an incident that caused the death of a bird by electrocution.

Other modified orders concern the export of waste, the values ​​in terms of sanitation of contaminated sites or the development of rivers. (JZS/ATS)

The Federal Council had promised 36 fighter planes for 6 billion francs. But it would seem that Switzerland has not read the terms of the contract written in small print.

In the summer of 2021, the Armasuisse State Secretariat answered our question on contractual guarantees surrounding the purchase of F-35 combat aircraft: