Waste Zurich municipal council wants to retain free coupons for bulky waste

The abolition of free coupons for bulky goods announced by Zurich City Council has startled the municipal council: on Wednesday evening, it discussed five waste disposal postulates.

The five urgent motions had similar titles: "Abandon the abolition of free disposal coupons until a practicable alternative with decentralized disposal points", demanded the FDP in its postulate.

At the beginning of September, the city council announced that it no longer wanted to offer financial incentives for disposal at recycling centers. The annual coupons for handing in 400 kilograms of bulky waste, metal and pit waste free of charge will be discontinued in 2025.

Ten percent of coupons redeemed

The coupons were an appealing idea, admitted city councillor Simone Brander (SP). However, the coupons had all been co-financed via the basic fee, but only ten percent of households had redeemed them. This was not fair to the polluter.

Brander also pointed out what the city council had announced on Wednesday lunchtime: the local population will one day be able to dispose of bulky items and electrical appliances free of charge in up to 30 mobile recycling centers. The city council is requesting one-off costs of 3.9 million francs for this at a later date, as well as annually recurring expenditure of 1.6 million francs.

The Greens were vehemently opposed to the coupons, as they would create "false incentives". The SP took a similar view, although it voted in favor of retaining the vouchers until a new solution is found. The FDP also demanded that an alternative must first be available before anything is cut.

After an hour-long debate, the municipal council finally referred a postulate from the FDP and one from the FDP, SP and Mitte to the city council. It rejected three motions from the SVP, AL and Mitte/EVP, which, in addition to retaining the coupons, contained further demands for an expansion of services or lower costs.

SDA