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The new gray trash containers at the bottom of Lausanne buildings monopolized the debates in the City Council on Tuesday evening. The PLR found itself lonely in its attempt to “defend owners, tenants and the environment”.
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- Abdoulaye Penda Ndiaye
Lausanne will gradually adopt gray containers.
DR
The brief presentation of the Lausanne-based International Archery Federation, as an informal opening of the Municipal Council on Tuesday evening, announced the color. The archers were out during this session where the debates were monopolized by the new mobile gray trash containers at the bottom of the buildings of the Olympic capital. The blue, brown, green and red-lidded containers will gradually be removed from the urban landscape in favor of a new gray model with a label indicating the type of waste.
“An aesthetic whim of the City”
This new measure worries the PLR, author of an urgent questioning by the voice of the municipal councilor Henri Klunge: “Replace the containers: does not the City of Lausanne have better things to do?” By defending the owners, the tenants but also the environment, the PLR has distanced itself from what it called an “aesthetic whim” of the City. But, according to Florence Germond, elected socialist responsible for public spaces and urban cleanliness, the proposed change is not binding but optional. “Homeowners don’t have to take these new, stronger, lighter containers. There is a recycling channel while the others were incinerated in the event of deterioration. Gray was chosen because it fits better into the urban landscape, ”she said.
In 2021, 730 damaged containers
The socialist also admitted that the city’s policy is to encourage owners to adopt the new containers before the old models are completely out of use. Hence the 50% discount offer and free delivery in the event of an order until the end of the year. According to her, in 2021, a total of 730 defective containers were replaced at a cost of 75,000 francs.
“A financial windfall for your cherished beneficiaries”
But the PLR did not want to let go of the matter. He introduced a resolution for landlords to obtain partial exemption from the waste disposal tax calculated on the basis of the volume of buildings. Tax which brings in 12 million francs per year in Lausanne. This insistence ended up irritating some. “In the midst of a health and environmental crisis, in Lausanne, people talk about bins and the color of bins for hours. You just want to offer a financial windfall to the owners, your cherished beneficiaries, ”tackled a socialist. “Garbage cans have become an electoral concern of the PLR. When will there be a debate for the police in Lausanne to wear pink shorts, ”quipped a Green. The request for exemption was largely swept aside: 25 yes against 53 no.
Lausanne students living more than a kilometer from the school are entitled to a free bus pass offered by the City. This allows them to go to extracurricular activities. On the other hand, children living less than a kilometer from the school do not benefit from such a favor. “This creates an additional cost for some large low-income families. There is unequal treatment, ”said popist Céline Misiego in her postulate. The City will therefore have to examine the question of the relevance of granting the Mobilis subscription to all Lausanne schoolchildren, regardless of the distance between their place of residence and their school.
