One ton per kilometre: More and more waste ends up on Swiss motorways

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In addition, there is about 3,300 tons of waste that has been properly disposed of at the rest areas. This is stated in the report ‘Operational maintenance of national roads’ that the Federal Road Service (Astra) published on Tuesday.

“Unfortunately, litter continues to increase,” says Astra managing director Jürg Röthlisberger in the report. The bad habit of carelessly throwing or leaving rubbish lying around in public spaces is an increasing problem, especially on busy routes and in the connecting areas.

As a rule, the cantonal civil engineering offices are responsible for cleaning roads, tunnels and rest areas on behalf of the federal government. This includes flushing pipes, canals and canals, emptying street water treatment plants, and removing gravel and debris from streams and banks.

The national road network has a total length of approximately 2,200 kilometres. According to the current report, the federal government spent about 395 million francs on operational maintenance in 2022. In addition to cleaning, this also includes the costs for winter service, green maintenance, maintenance of the operating and safety equipment and the work of the damage control services.

As the figures also show, little salt was used in the winter service last year. The fact that salt consumption in 2022 will be the third lowest in history, for example, has to do with the relatively mild winter – but not only. Instead of salt, a salty brine is increasingly being sprayed on the road. It is a mixture of salt and water. Compared to dry salt, this remains on the roadway much longer, so that less salt is used.

(SDA)

Source:Blick