Study of the legal framework of local tax regulations for waste management

Law 7/2022, of April 8, on Waste and Contaminated Soil for a Circular Economy requires local authorities to establish a waste charge specific and differentiated that allows for the implementation of pay-as-you-throw schemes and which covers the full cost, direct or indirect, of the waste collection, transportation and treatment operations. In addition to the legal framework, this article presents the state of waste charges in Spain in 2023, where flat rates predominate and are still far from full cost coverage.

It is recommended to accompany the ordinances regulating the waste charge with municipal ordinances regulating the service. It is also crucial to have transparent and detailed technical-economic reports to determine the balance of costs and the justification of the tariff structure. The trend should be towards the adoption of pay-as-you-throw schemes, which require individualized separate collection systems. Most variable pricing systems are based on separate door-to-door collection models.