Yes, authorities are now searching citizens' trash

Le Temps At left, Yverdon-les-Bains garbage workers search for unauthorized bags. Above right: an address found in the trash will lead to a citation. Below right, Olivier de Blairville the head of municipal cleanliness and waste.

Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland, a spa resort town of about 27,000 in the western, French-speaking portion of the country, has started enforcing its pay-as-you-throw trash system with unusual gusto.

(How do you say "big brother" in French? … grand frère?)

According to an article in the Le Temps newspaper, officials are now removing from dumpsters trash bags that were not purchased under the PAYT system. Those illegal bags are then brought to headquarters.

Olivier de Blairville, "head of municipal cleanliness and waste," then "disembowels" them (man, I love Google Translate) with a knife. The contents are spread out on an examining table, and the search for clues begins.

He and his team look for bank statements, address labels, photocopies – any information that can identify the illegal dumpers. Those caught face a fine of 250 Swiss francs, or about $260.

(Wordcrunch.com features a better translation of the article here.)

Le Temps reporter Mathieu Signorell goes heavy on the details as he describes the contents of the "fraudsters'" trash bags. One has thrown away milk, cola and beer cans "by the dozen" and tossed away a yogurt container "forgotten in the fridge." Another has left his rubbish out on his balcony for too long; it's covered with mold -- except for the vodka bottle. There are zucchini scraps, orange peels, coffee grounds.

"It disgusts me," de Blaireville says. "Not the smell, but the fact that people will not sort their waste."

Finally, he finds one bag with a magazine with a visible address label. Busted!

Since the garbage examination program started, about 250 people have been cited, according to Le Temps.

"Our goal is not to make money out of the fines," de Blaireville insists. "We just want things to be fair for those who play by the rules."

At $260 a pop, 250 citations equals $65,000. Of course, it's not about making money.

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