Proposal to strengthen the circular economy largely finalized
Published: Monday, Feb 26th 2024, 18:40
Updated At: Monday, Feb 26th 2024, 18:40
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The National Council and the Council of States have largely agreed on how to strengthen the circular economy in Switzerland. On Monday, the National Council agreed with the Council of States on the last controversial point of the corresponding legislative project.
Like the Council of States, the National Council now also believes that the Federal Council should not have the explicit authority to issue guidelines to retailers on the disposal of unsold biogenic products. This refers to food and potted plants, for example.
The Federal Council should also not be able to explicitly instruct retailers to feed these products into biogas plants that are able to sort out plastic packaging. This was proposed by a majority of the committee advising the upper chamber.
In the decisive vote, the large chamber clearly voted against the proposal of the majority of the committee and in favor of deleting the corresponding passage by 165 votes to 26 with one abstention.
Federal Councillor Albert Rösti had previously told the Council that the legislative project already stipulates that the owners of unsold products must remove the packaging before disposing of the products.
"In future, biogenic waste must primarily be recycled if this is technically possible and economically viable and does not lead to additional environmental pollution," said Rösti. The National Council's demands for an explicit obligation to remove packaging are therefore unnecessary.
On Thursday in the Council of States
The environmental organization Greenpeace wrote in a press release on Monday of a "breakthrough" in the bill and an "important step for the protection of the environment and resources". Once the bill has been finalized, it will form the basis for making products more durable and easier to repair.
The bill now goes back to the Council of States to iron out one last difference. It is still disputed whether the Federal Council should base the measurability of quantitative resource targets "as far as possible on internationally recognized product declarations". Or whether it should be "internationally recognized standards".
It is planned that the bill will return to the Council of States on Thursday.
Key point: national littering ban
Four years ago, the National Council's Committee for the Environment, Spatial Planning and Energy (Urek-N) decided to add provisions on the circular economy to the National Environmental Protection Act. The Federal Assembly began its deliberations in 2023.
The circular economy basically means that what is no longer used or useful should be passed on or recycled wherever possible. Waste should be reused and recycled where this brings real added value.
The key point of the bill is a national ban on littering. This ban on throwing litter away or leaving it lying around carelessly was agreed by the councils at the end of 2023.
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