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Introduction of a waste incineration tax: Effects on the Swedish waste flows

Author

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  • Sahlin, Jenny
  • Ekvall, Tomas
  • Bisaillon, Mattias
  • Sundberg, Johan

Abstract

A tax on waste-to-energy incineration of fossil carbon in municipal solid waste from households was introduced in Sweden on July 1, 2006. The tax has led to higher incineration gate fees. One of the main purposes with the tax is to increase the incentive for recycling of materials, including biological treatment. We investigate whether and to what extent this effect can be expected. A spreadsheet model is developed in order to estimate the net marginal cost of alternative waste treatment methods, i.e., the marginal cost of alternative treatment minus avoided cost of incineration. The value of the households’ time needed for source separation is discussed and included. The model includes the nine largest fractions, totalling 85% (weight), of the household waste currently being sent to waste incineration: food waste, newsprint, paper packaging, soft and hard plastic packaging, diapers, yard waste, other paper waste, and non-combustible waste. Our results indicate that the incineration tax will have the largest effect on biological treatment of kitchen and garden waste, which may increase by 9%. The consequences of an incineration tax depend on: (a) the level of the tax, (b) whether the tax is based on an assumed average Swedish fossil carbon content or on the measured carbon content in each incineration plant, (c) institutional factors such as the cooperation between waste incinerators, and (d) technological factors such as the availability of central sorting of waste or techniques for measurement of fossil carbon in exhaust gases, etc. Information turns out to be a key factor in transferring the governing force of the tax to the households as well improving the households’ attitudes towards material recycling.

Suggested Citation

  • Sahlin, Jenny & Ekvall, Tomas & Bisaillon, Mattias & Sundberg, Johan, 2007. "Introduction of a waste incineration tax: Effects on the Swedish waste flows," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 51(4), pages 827-846.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:recore:v:51:y:2007:i:4:p:827-846
    DOI: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2007.01.002
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Goshu Desalegn & Anita Tangl, 2022. "Banning Vs Taxing, Reviewing the Potential Opportunities and Challenges of Plastic Products," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-16, June.
    3. Groot, Jim & Bing, Xiaoyun & Bos-Brouwers, Hilke & Bloemhof-Ruwaard, Jacqueline, 2014. "A comprehensive waste collection cost model applied to post-consumer plastic packaging waste," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 79-87.
    4. Emmanuel Kazuva & Jiquan Zhang, 2019. "Analyzing Municipal Solid Waste Treatment Scenarios in Rapidly Urbanizing Cities in Developing Countries: The Case of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-21, June.
    5. Liu, Yili & Xing, Peixuan & Liu, Jianguo, 2017. "Environmental performance evaluation of different municipal solid waste management scenarios in China," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 98-106.
    6. Xi Sun, 2023. "The Role of Carbon Pricing in Promoting Material Recycling: A Model of Multi-Market Interactions," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 2034, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.

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