From 1 November 2017, Lausanne will slap big fines on those littering or soiling its public spaces.
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Spitting in or near a public a public space will come with a CHF 100 fine. Urinating and defecating will cost CHF 200.
Dog owners will face fines for failing to clean up dog poo (CHF 150), allowing their dogs to enter cemeteries (CHF 70), and allowing them on boat jetties without a leash (CHF 70).
Those disposing of rubbish without sorting it properly will risk fines of CHF 150.
Unsorted rubbish is a costly problem for municipalities. Once mixed it can be impossible to sort. For example, if organic material is mixed with paper it gets contaminated and cannot be recycled. For this reason Lausanne plans to come down hard on those failing to sort recycling properly.
The introduction of taxes on rubbish disposal in 2013 increased recyclable trash by 23% and reduced other types of rubbish by 40% – 2015 city report.
In 2015, Lausanne spent nearly CHF 60 million keeping the city clean and dealt with 24 thousand tonnes of rubbish.
In addition to fines for poor sorting, littering or fly tipping will soon cost culprits CHF 150.
Rather than the police, enforcement will be principally done by regular commune staff, who will receive special training.
If well enforced the system could be very lucrative. If every carelessly discarded cigarette butt brought in CHF 150, a lot of rubbish bags could be filled with the cash collected. And, recycling cash is unlikely to be a problem.
More on this:
Lausanne city press release – opens PDF – (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
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