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 waste in Spain
Source:Spanish Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge
The amount of waste going to recycling has increased by 13.3% between 2010 and 2021, while composting and biomethanisation of organic waste has increased by only 1.8%.
Incineration, which in 2021 stood at 2,403,326 tonnes, the second highest figure of the last decade, increased by 25.5% compared to 2010.
In contrast, waste deposited in landfills has decreased by 33.6%.