Federalism at the edge of the road: Switzerland and its tolls



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How can municipalities and autonomous regions in Switzerland be seen from the side of the street: in terms of elimination, the authorities enjoy a freedom of creation. Sometimes yogurt cups and cotton swabs are wrapped in a sober administrative act, sometimes they wait with creative finesse for their last trip.

The city of Bern shows its skylines on the bags, Zurich relies on the hygienic whites and the Züri-Leu and in the Nidwalden canton are bags in red joyful in the street. In the Upper Valais, the toll has even a face.

The "diversity in unity" enshrined in the Federal Constitution is already evident in the toll of the neighboring commune. This may already belong to another waste network, which – also typical Switzerland – probably works well too. It goes without saying that the bags are priced differently everywhere

The tax bag is also an object of federalism because of its origin: the idea of ​​picking up waste in pay bags and weighing down the polluter but in a city.

Already in 1975, 43 years ago, St.Gallen voters said yes to the tax. As a "welcome gift" to the innovative system, all households received two garbage bags free of charge

Three years ago, St.Gallen celebrated its 40th anniversary with this pioneering act. The celebrations showed that the city has an almost affectionate relationship with "his" bag. The inhabitants were called to shoot "Sackies", selfies with a bag. For the best picture, there was a VIP tour with a garbage truck.

It took several decades for the pioneering act of Eastern Switzerland to spread throughout the country. The introduction was like a patchwork quilt – also typical of Switzerland.

While one community joined a group, the next did not want to know it. This led to a new undesirable phenomenon: the Swiss, too aware of the costs, drove the car to full load in the neighboring village and threw away their waste for free. Tourism waste was born

Today, where almost all municipalities have tax bags, the topic of waste tourism is thankfully virtually off the table, as the city council said on demand. The amount of waste per person has decreased by about 30 percent because more will be recycled. This is not only due to increased environmental awareness, but also to the desire to save money. Less waste also means fewer bags to buy.

While most German-Swiss municipalities introduced tolls in 2000, a Güsel ditch opened up to the west: several cantons in western Switzerland rejected tolls. In the canton of Vaud, for example, it is the leftists who are fighting against the "antisocial burden".

The gap was filled only by the Federal Court, which has grumbled the Vaud and Neuchâtel communes in this system. Early in the year 2018, Lower Flanders also followed – reluctantly on the basis of a verdict of the Federal Court.

Ticino has also struggled with the "mandatory tax". People said in May 2017 but finally yes. Although bags are not yet available in all the cities along the roads, they are a good thing. The introduction to the national scale of the tax lasted 43 years.

All Gaul? No. A small village in the West also does not want to join in the future. Geneva municipalities continue to rely on a tax calculation or a flat fee – and voluntary. Although the Federal Court does not consider this to be acceptable because it is contrary to the law of the environment.

To avoid pressure from federal judges, the Geneva government ordered the distribution of hundreds of thousands of buckets of compost. She hopes that the inhabitants of Geneva will voluntarily separate the waste. (SDA)


Posted on 29.07.2018 | Updated at 09:06

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