International Review of Waste Management Policy - Department of ...

aggregate (and the fact that the tax accounts for only a small proportion of the
primary aggregates price). 793
Sweden
Sweden has a low recycling rate but this can be explained through reference to the
fact that there is very little demolition taking place, and therefore, less material to
recycle. The main material used for recycling is mining waste. The proportion of
aggregate production from secondary material is 11%. 794 Sweden has seen a shift
away from the use of gravel, but given the range of policies that have been
implemented, it seems unlikely that the relatively small tax on aggregates could be
the main reason for the shift. Sweden does have a substantial tax on waste disposal
by landfill, currently at €47/tonne, which is likely to be influential. A far more detailed
analysis than is available would be required to estimate the proportion of the change
accounted for specifically by the tax on aggregates, compared to the tax on waste
disposal.
UK
The UK has the highest recycling rate for aggregate materials in Europe. They account
for 25% of the UK aggregates market (the largest market share for recycled
aggregates in Europe). 795 The situation here is similar to that of Sweden where
unpicking the direct impact of implementing the tax on aggregate is very difficult
when waste disposal is also taxed, albeit at a lower rate for construction and
demolition wastes than for non-inert fractions.
Evidence suggests, although cannot be conclusive, that the tax on aggregates is
generally a weak policy which strongly relies on the accompanying presence of a
disposal tax as an incentive to recycle. Soderholm (2001) cites Ecotec (2001) who
find that disposal taxes generally provide a much stronger economic incentive than
the tax on aggregates. Recycling would therefore be an expected consequence of
wanting to avoid disposal costs (evidence from Denmark exemplifies this point). In
other words, the shift in the market is likely to be more supply driven than demand
driven, but demand can be strengthened through use of standards and other
demand-side measures, and this may become more necessary as supply increases.
Figure 46-1 shows the percentage of the market accounted for by recycled aggregate
over time, during the introduction of both the landfill tax and the tax on aggregates in
the UK.
793 ECOTEC Research and Consulting (2001) Economic and Environmental Implications of the Use of
Environmental Taxes and Charges in the EU and its Member States, Accessed 21 st October 2008,
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/enveco/taxation/pdf/ch11_aggregated_taxes.pdf
794 D. Legg (2007) Presentation: Evaluation of Aggregate Taxes, European Environment Agency.
795 European Environment Agency (2008) Effectiveness of Environmental Taxes and Charges for
Managing Sand, Gravel and Rock Extraction in Selected EU Countries, Accessed 23 rd October 2008,
http://reports.eea.europa.eu/eea_report_2008_2/en/Effectiveness_of_environmental_taxes_final_lo
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