ACR+ member ENT recently published a report on the situation of waste charges in Spain. According to the report, waste charges in the country provide the most important source of revenue at the local level provided that waste management services are mandatory and their costs are high. The paper focuses on the characterization of the municipal ordinances regulating waste management charges in 125 Spanish municipalities in 2014, including all provincial capitals and analyses the revenues from waste charges and costs of waste collection and treatment in 2013.
The report explains that the legislation allows for the inclusion of environmental and social criteria in the definition of tax rates and fiscal benefits, but lacks the environmental criteria in the design of tax rates (which are not related to waste generation) and fiscal benefits (which are not related to environmental friendly behaviours such as the use of municipal green and clean points). Therefore, the paper argues that the citizens carrying out proper source separation of waste subsidize those who do not make such effort, which is eventually unfair from a social, economic and environmental point of view.
Read the report online: www.ief.es (in Spanish).
The report explains that the legislation allows for the inclusion of environmental and social criteria in the definition of tax rates and fiscal benefits, but lacks the environmental criteria in the design of tax rates (which are not related to waste generation) and fiscal benefits (which are not related to environmental friendly behaviours such as the use of municipal green and clean points). Therefore, the paper argues that the citizens carrying out proper source separation of waste subsidize those who do not make such effort, which is eventually unfair from a social, economic and environmental point of view.
Read the report online: www.ief.es (in Spanish).