Taxes or fees on the deposit of waste in landfills, incineration and co-incineration of waste, are economic instruments that aim to encourage more environmentally friendly behavior by economically penalizing the destination of the rejection fraction for final treatments. Any preventive waste management strategy carried out by local authorities that entail a reduction in waste sent to final treatments will entail direct savings for municipalities. On the other hand, increasing selective collection also represents a direct improvement in the economic balance of municipal waste management, due to the increase in income linked to Integrated Management Systems, the return of the fee and the sale of material.
Evolution of the destination of residual waste fraction in Catalonia
Source:Agència de Residus de Catalunya
The general trend in the destination of the rejection fraction is the progressive decrease in end treatments (incineration and lanfills) and the increase in mechanical-biological treatment. Even so, the maximum recovery of materials for subsequent recycling from the mechanical-biological treatment plants has never exceeded 40%.