Author: switzerlandtimes.ch
A popular criticism of electric cars is the toxic battery waste they create. In response to this criticism and for the benefit of the environment a new factory in the Swiss town of Biberist in the canton of Solothurn is aiming to recycle 97% of the components of a range of car batteries, reported SRF. The company Librec AG, aims to eventually process 10,000 tons of used batteries a year. It will recycle batteries from a range of vehicles. 10,000 tons is the forecasted annual amount of car battery waste in Switzerland by 2035. As a first step the company…
Around 600 hiking trails covering 1,300 km of path have been closed across Switzerland after storm damage, reported the organisation Suisse Rando. Due to the weather conditions, there are currently many Swiss hiking trails that have been damaged and have been closed or diverted, said the organisation. The most affected regions include Goms, Binntal, Saas Valley, Zermatt, Val d’Anniviers, Misox, Maggia Valley, Val Bavona, Val Lavizzara and Valle di Peccia, in the Leventina and in the Bedretto Valley. Areas affected by closures have been generally been cordoned off by cantonal hiking trail organisations. Closures can be viewed at the online…
From 1 August 2024, Switzerland will begin contributing to a fund supporting the protection of the borders of the Schengen zone, a group of European nations with combined land borders of 8,000 km and sea borders of 43,000 km, reported RTS. A total of CHF 300 million has been budgeted to cover the period between 2021 and 2027. The money is a contribution to strengthening external border protection of the Schengen zone and to prevent illegal entry, said the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM). The sum is calculated based on national GDP. During the same period, Switzerland is expected to…
Vehicle noise is a problem in Switzerland. The authorities receive a numerous and growing number complaints, particularly in cities. Switzerland’s Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) placed noise detection radars in Geneva to quantify the problem. This week, they released the results, reported RTS. Radars erected in a number of places in Geneva flashed between 100 and 200 noisy vehicles a day. The devices record licence plate numbers and the noise to ensure there are no errors. The Radars are in zones where the speed limit is between 30 km/h and 60 km/h. The noise threshold was set at 80…
After adjusting for weather conditions, emissions from heating oil and gas fell by 8% 2023, according to data published this week by the Federal Office of the Environment (FOEN). The main driver of the improvement is improved building efficiency from better insulation and more efficient heating technology. The fall in emissions from burning gas (-41.7%) since 1990 is particularly striking. However, overall, Switzerland still has a long way to go. Since 1990, total emissions have fallen by 27%. The internationally agreed target is a cut of 50% by 2030. If the annual average rate achieved since 1990 is maintained, Switzerland…
In 2022, 24% of Switzerland’s population smoked, according to data published on 2 July 2024 by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO). This percentage is down 3 percentage points from the rate in 2017 when the survey was last done. The smoking rate has fallen most significantly among people with tertiary education. The proportion of heavy smokers (20 or more cigarettes a day) has more than halved in the last 30 years. New types of tobacco products or e-cigarettes are particularly popular among younger people, consumed by 17% of 15- to 24-year-olds in 2022. In 1992, 30% of the population aged…
Currently, Switzerland’s mountain regions are suffering badly from flooding following thunderstorms and exceptionally heavy rain. However, Switzerland’s plateau is not immune to flooding, reported SRF. New calculations suggest more than half of Switzerland’s buildings are at risk of being damaged by storms and floods. As the climate changes, devastating thunderstorms are becoming more frequent everywhere, said Olivia Romppainen, co-director of the Mobiliar Lab for Natural Risks at the University of Bern. A one degree rise in air temperature increases its moisture carrying capacity by seven percent. A key problem is water absorption. When so much rain falls quickly the ground…
Swiss Post buses are equipped with horns to warn on coming vehicles as they navigate tight corners on Switzerland’s mountain roads. The horns sound out the first few notes of the Andante of the overture to Gioacchino Rossini’s opera William Tell. These notes were first heard on Swiss roads 100 years ago. In 1919, when Switzerland introduced a motorised Alpine postal service post buses frequently ran into increasing numbers of private vehicles. To avoid accidents, the postal service added horns to their vehicles to warn on coming vehicles where visibility was poor. However, the early manual horns proved inadequate so…
On 22 September 2024, Swiss voters will decide whether or not to accept the latest round of government reforms to employee based pensions known as the second pillar pensions. Swiss trade unions are against the reform, which reduces the annuity rate from 6.8% to 6.0%. Instead they are calling for a higher rate to compensate for recent inflation. Switzerland’s pension system faces a similar demographic challenge to many developed nations. Its population is ageing and people are living longer. This means fewer people putting money in and more taking money out and for longer. This is a problem particularly for…
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