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Disposal is not free: fiscal instruments to internalize the environmental costs of solid waste

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  • Thornton Matheson

    (Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center)

Abstract

This paper provides an overview of global solid waste management challenges and waste-specific fiscal instruments that can help address them. Countries struggle to manage an ever-increasing volume of solid waste, which currently exceeds 2 billion tons a year. Though solid waste management is usually relegated to subnational governments, externalities from inadequate management, including greenhouse gas emissions and marine plastic, reach a global scale. Reduction of these externalities through improved waste management requires substantial additional fiscal resources. An effective combination of waste charges levied throughout the product cycle can provide resources to upgrade waste management, reducing environmental impacts, and create incentives for improved stewardship.

Suggested Citation

  • Thornton Matheson, 2022. "Disposal is not free: fiscal instruments to internalize the environmental costs of solid waste," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 29(4), pages 1047-1073, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:itaxpf:v:29:y:2022:i:4:d:10.1007_s10797-022-09741-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s10797-022-09741-1
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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. Jordi Jofre‐Monseny & Pilar Sorribas‐Navarro, 2024. "Landfill tax and recycling," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 45(4), pages 483-500, December.
    4. Yongxiang Jiao & Fen Xu & Wenjing Ma & Hongen Yang, 2023. "Can Urban Greening Construction Improve the Corporate Preventive Environmental Investment? Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-17, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Environmental tax; Solid waste; Plastic bag tax; Recycling; Landfill tax; Tipping fee; Advance disposal fee; Deposit-refund; Extended producer responsibility; Virgin material tax;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H2 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
    • H7 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations
    • Q5 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics

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