“All too often, public waste bins are used to dispose of private household waste. At individual bus stops, this accounts for over 50 percent of the waste volume, on average around 30 percent,” says a recently published statement from the city of Winterthur.
More and more household waste ends up in public waste bins
The problem is getting bigger and bigger, according to the responsible department when asked by ZüriToday. “This depends heavily on the economic situation and the financial strength of the population. There are also big differences between the districts when it comes to illegal disposal,” explains Michael Graf, communications officer for the city of Winterthur. He suspects that in order to save money, people take a bag of rubbish with them on the way to public transport in the morning and then deposit it at the stop.
Household waste is usually packed in small disposable bags or wrapped in newspaper. Often there are paper carrier bags from Coop or Migros that are placed near the waste bins.
Now be honest: Have you already disposed of household waste in public waste bins?
- Yes, I always do that.
- Yes, but only in exceptional cases.
- No and I won’t.
Bags containing cans or milk cartons are particularly often thrown away. “What is also often encountered are leftover meat or plastic bottles. In general, it can be said that anything that has a lot of volume and doesn’t necessarily fit into the household waste bag is often disposed of in public waste bins.”
Image source: City of Winterthur / Department of Construction and Mobility
Waste chaos at the Tössfeld stop.
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People who are caught and identified based on the pictures of the garbage will first receive a written warning. In the event of a second incident, the images and the address will be forwarded to the Winterthur city police. From there, the affected people will then receive a fine. The amount of the fine varies depending on the case. “In such cases, a report is sent to the governor’s office. This then determines the fine,” said the Winterthur city police when asked.
A lot of ignorance among the population
In order to combat the problem, the city of Winterthur has launched a campaign called “Domestic waste is a private matter” to make the population aware of the issue.
“I think that many citizens don’t know what is allowed and what is not,” says Graf. He himself has had the experience that people didn’t even know that disposing of household waste in public bins was not allowed. “For them, it’s just waste that needs to be disposed of.”
“The majority of Zurich residents act correctly”
It is impossible to quantify what the situation looks like in Switzerland’s largest city. “The city of Zurich does not collect any data on the origin of the waste in waste containers on public property,” said Disposal + Recycling Zurich upon request. As of today, ERZ does not monitor the disposal of household waste in waste containers on public property. “In our experience, the majority of Zurich residents act correctly and dispose of household waste in the designated fee bags,” says ERZ media spokesman Christoph Mahlstein.
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The city of Zurich’s website shows what happens if you are caught: “Those who dispose of illegally will be reported to the police and punished with a fine of up to several thousand francs.”
