Fireworks: initiative to limit their use

Context

TL;DR

• The federal vote is scheduled for November 29
• The slogan is "Not everyone celebrates"
• In Switzerland: 1,300 tonnes of waste per year
• Suva records 260 accidents every year

Key facts

• Purpose → use and sale of noisy pyrotechnic articles
• Place → Bern
• Fine powders → about 200-400 tons per year
• Date cited August → 1, 2026
• → PSA protagonists, wildlife organisations, gamekeepers and farmers

On November 29, the proposal will be put to a federal vote. For the campaign of the federal popular initiative "For a limitation of fireworks", the promoting committee chose the slogan "Not everyone celebrates" and images of dogs, cats, cows and deer covering their ears.

Topics presented in Bern

In Bern, in front of the media, the promoters presented the arguments in support of the text. Representatives of the Swiss Animal Protection (SPA), other wildlife organisations, gamekeepers and farmers were present. The initiative aims to put limits on the use and sale of noisy pyrotechnic articles, in order to protect people, animals and the environment.

According to the promoters, domestic, income and wild animals have a hearing that is significantly more sensitive than human hearing. The sudden explosions of the fireworks display provoke fear, stress and panic. Those who take care of them, they add, must stay home with them on August 1 and New Year's Eve or get away from the shooting sites.

On August 1, 2026, Andrea Schaller, head of PSA in French-speaking Switzerland and Ticino, gave a concrete example. Due to the heatwave and severe drought, private lighting of fires had been prohibited on a large scale. On that day, he recalled, "not a single missing dog report was recorded." Normally, he added, calls during the National Day skyrocket.

For Schaller, the ban on firecrackers and other private pyrotechnic items would allow owners to organize with greater predictability: they would know when the official shows are scheduled and would not fear unpredictable noises from all sides. Gabriel Sutter, active game warden in Basel Countryside, recalled the risks to wildlife: stress can push them to waste energy reserves, abandon shelters or small ones and, in the worst cases, die.

The committee also links the proposal to waste. Combustion produces 1,300 tons of wood, cardboard, plastic or clay packaging every year in Switzerland; a part remains in fields, lawns and public places, with significant removal costs and dangers for animals. The waste, the committee indicated, eventually decomposes into microplastics. According to figures from the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), the metal compounds of the pyrotechnic material also emit about 200-400 tons of fine powders per year, which end up in the soil and water.

Operational details

The practical point of the campaign emerges in the comparison between private explosions and official shows. The source speaks of a restriction on the use and sale of noisy pyrotechnic articles; Andrea Schaller translates the goal into a ban on firecrackers and other private products. In its scenario, animal owners would know when official fires are planned, without having to fear unpredictable noises coming from all sides.

For those who live in Switzerland, the difference indicated by the promoters therefore concerns the predictability of August 1 and New Year's Eve. Their description opposes a situation in which the caretaker stays at home or moves away from the shooting sites to a scenario in which official events are recognizable and private noises do not arrive without warning.

First and scenario indicated by the promoters

For farmers, the problem is operational. Packaging can remain for a long time in fields, lawns or public places, while their removal entails a significant cost. Lukas Jost also links fires to the risk of them ending up in barns: the safety of rural structures therefore adds to the issue of noise.

For wildlife, the promoters' analysis relates fear to the energy consumed and the abandonment of shelters or small ones. For the environment, it separates visible waste from fine dust that reaches the soil and water. For people, Suva records 260 injuries per year, mainly hand and finger burns and permanent tinnitus-related hearing injuries. They are different plans of the same choice: home management, agricultural work and security. To keep this environmental cost separate from other daily expenses, you can also consult the costo della vita in Svizzera.

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Key points

Anyone who wants to get oriented before November 29 can turn the campaign into an orderly assessment. There is no need to add speculation about the outcome: it is enough to keep the subject, intended recipients and consequences indicated by the promoters separate.

1. Set the date and the level of the decision. The reference point is the federal vote on November 29. The issue is presented as a federal popular initiative, and the campaign was launched in Bern.

2. Define the scope. Interpret the request as a restriction on the use and sale of noisy pyrotechnic articles. The distinction between private products and official displays is the one used by Schaller.

3. Use the two dates as a practical calendar. If the assessment concerns a pet or farm animal, consider August 1 and New Year's Eve as the times indicated by the campaign: the point to observe is the presence of sudden explosions and the possibility of knowing in advance when official displays are scheduled.

4. Assess the environmental impact with the available data. Keep the 1'300 tonnes of packaging distinct from the 200-400 tonnes of fine powders: the former remain in fields, meadows and public places; the latter end up in the soil and water. Also consider the risk to animals and the removal work reported by the committee.

5. Complete the assessment with safety. Suva reports 260 accidents per year, mainly burns to hands and fingers and permanent hearing damage; for Lukas Jost, the risk of fire spreading to barns remains. The committee reminds us that there are other ways to express one's joy.

A separate decision for each impact

The method avoids mixing the aspects: animal distress concerns noise and unpredictability; the agricultural problem concerns waste and barns; the environmental issue concerns waste, dust, soil and water; the safety issue concerns accidents, burns and hearing. They are all arguments of the campaign, but they should be assessed separately.

To complete your review of the personal assessment, consult the busta paga svizzera and use the calcolatore stipendio.

Source: tio.ch