Motions for more environmentally compatible waste management
The Committee for the Environment, Spatial Planning and Energy of the Council of States has adopted a number of motions calling for a more resource-conserving approach to waste. Recycling materials are to be used as far as possible in construction projects, and oxo-degradable plastics are to be banned.
In the transition to a more environmentally friendly waste management, the federal government should lead by example, writes the Committee for Environment, Spatial Planning and Energy of the Council of States (UREK-S) in a Communication at its meeting on February 17. At this meeting, the UREK-S adopted several motions with this thrust "with a clear majority", it says further.
Measures against littering
Specifically, a motion by then National Councilor Peter Schillinger (FDP/LU) was approved by nine votes to two with one abstention. In the Motion 19.4296 Schillinger calls for the federal government, cantons and municipalities to use recycled building materials in public sector projects whenever possible.
The motions of National Councillor Jaques Bourgeois (FDP/FR) and Isabelle Chevalley (GLP/VD) were even unanimously supported by the UREK-S, according to the statement. In the Motion 19.4100 Bourgeois explains that the federal government should be able to take "effective promotional measures against the abandonment or discarding of small waste" and calls for corresponding changes in the law. The Motion 19.4182 of Chevalley advocates a ban on oxo-degradable plastics.
Although they break down faster than conventional plastics, they release microplastics in the process, the statement explains.
