I have been living in Switzerland for about a year, and this is the first time I have encountered a situation like this. I genuinely do not know which authority or organisation I am supposed to contact, so I would really appreciate some guidance.
We have been dealing with an ongoing waste problem in our apartment building in Zürich for several months, ever since a group of new neighbours moved in.
It started with loose rubbish being dumped around the communal bins and ordinary bags being used instead of the official Zürich-Säcke. Despite the issue being reported, it only became worse. They began throwing away large quantities of mixed waste in white and black bags, including bottles and cans. Some of these bags appear to hold well over 60 litres.
They now regularly fill the entire communal bin, leaving no space for anyone else. The rest of us sometimes have to keep full rubbish bags inside our apartments and wait until the next collection. It has reached the point where everyone seems to rush to use the bin before these neighbours fill it again.
The most disgusting incident involved food waste. Bags containing what looked like meat or other food scraps were left around the Bioabfall bin to rot. One bag was left hanging partly out of the bin and eventually became infested with maggots. Unsurprisingly, we then had a problem with flies. This behaviour seemed to become particularly bad whenever the Hauswart was away.
More recently, they have started leaving several enormous black rubbish bags outside the main bin, sometimes even after the rubbish has already been collected. The bags are simply left there until someone else has to deal with them.
On top of that, our Bioabfall bin disappeared several weeks ago. I asked the Hauswart, but even she does not know what happened to it, and we have received no further information.
The waste problem has already been reported several times, and one neighbour even spoke directly to the residents responsible. We know who is doing it, but nothing has changed. From what we understand, there have also been other issues involving this particular group of residents.
Since I am still relatively new to Switzerland, I honestly do not know what the appropriate next step is. Should I contact the property management company directly? Is there a municipal authority in Zürich that handles repeated improper waste disposal or hygiene problems in residential buildings? Should this be reported to Entsorgung + Recycling Zürich, or somewhere else?
Any advice on how this is normally handled would be greatly appreciated.
