Wrong Garbage Bag? Swiss Trash Police Are On the Case

Zurich police gave Judith Schulte two options: pay a 250-franc ($280) fine or spend two nights in jail. Schulte’s crime: dropping off her recycling on a Sunday.

“Who’d have thought that people would be such sticklers about garbage,” said the 35-year-old German communications executive, a Swiss resident for the last seven years, who opted to pay the fine after a neighbor in her affluent district in the hills above lake Zurich reported her misdemeanor. “I can understand that people don’t want to be disturbed, but going to the police over a few bottles seems a bit much.”