Many foreigners are perplexed by Switzerland’s orderly, well-organised recycling regulations — so much so that many take to social media to vent their frustrations.
Speak about trash talk!
According to a report on Nau news platform, “our waste separation system often raises eyebrows among expats.”
The news site has collected comments from social media forums, reflecting how foreign residents feel about the recycle culture in Switzerland. It can be summed up thusly: “They are overwhelmed with all the different containers and garbage bags.”
“There are small piles of trash piling up all over the house that need to be taken to different places,” one person said.
Another added, “Do you do anything else [besides recycling], or is this a full-time job?”
But perhaps the longest rant came from Jonathan, who described his efforts to follow all the rules.
“I have bags that cost 25 francs a pack. I have green bin bags for food waste. I have a container for cardboard, I have a container for plastic bottles, I have a contianer for glass bottles. I have a contaier for coffee pods, I have a container for batteries.”
“My flat is 36 square metres and I live in a pig pile of shit bins because of this dilemma.”
He added that his post is not a joke, but a serious matter.
READ ALSO: What are Switzerland’s rules for waste disposal and recycling?
‘Between mildly confusing and difficult’
Jonathan and other social media users are not the only ones bewildered by the recycling rules.
A while ago, we asked The Local readers what aspect of life in Switzerland has surprised them the most.
Many mentioned the way Swiss people dispose of their garbage, with one describing it “somewhere between mildly confusing and difficult.”
‘Difficult’ because “the cardboard and paper is only collected once per month, so you really can accumulate a lot before it’s collected and you need to store it in your house.”
One reader was also surprised to find that the Swiss use special garbage bags and that “if you put these bags out on the wrong day (or too early), you can get fined.”
READ ALSO: Woman fined 190 Swiss francs for putting rubbish out on wrong day
And while general garbage is collected in front of your property, this is not the case for glass recycling, which has to be dropped off by residents in Switzerland at specific collection centres in their area, another reader noted.
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A clash of cultures
According to Nau, “the posts come from expats — people who live in Switzerland but who didn’t grow up with Swiss culture.”
Expat advisor Michael Büchi, agrees.
The main problem, he told Nau, lies in the fact that many people from abroad are unfamiliar with the [proper] waste separation system in their home country.
“Therefore, some basic rules aren’t clear from the start. These include, for example, what belongs in the green waste collection or that waste paper must be bundled.”
Additionally, “some expats don’t understand why the fee-based garbage bags are tied to a specific area, such as a municipality. A garbage bag purchased in the city of Zurich simply cannot be used in a suburban municipality.”
And, of course, trash bags don’t come cheap, with the price depending on where you live and the size of the bag:
READ ALSO: Why are garbage bags so expensive in Switzerland?
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‘Extreme measures’
One US national told The Local she was shocked to discover that some Swiss municipalities have ‘garbage inspectors’ — people who sift through trash to make sure no recyclable waste is in there.
“By any standards, these are extreme measures,” she said.
READ ALSO: Why the Swiss government rummages through your garbage
