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 the EU
Source:EUROSTAT
In 2021, 30% of the waste generated in the EU will be destined to material recycling and 19% to composting or anaerobic digestion. Even so, a large part of the waste generated is still destined to final disposal (26% to incineration and energy recovery, and 22% to controlled landfill).
Although the amount of waste destined to controlled landfill has decreased by 17% in the last 8 years, the amount of waste destined to incineration (with or without energy recovery) has increased by 11%. In contrast, material recycling has increased by 28% and the destination of composting and anaerobic digestion of organic matter has increased by 45% between 2013 and 2021.