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

esidual treatments, and thus exemptions were needed to allow licensed disposal in
landfill.
52.2.4.13 Norway
A waste disposal tax was introduced in Norway in 1999. This was to reduce methane
emissions from landfill and incentivise the recovery of energy produced during
incineration, hence reducing the environmental damage caused by final waste
treatment.
The landfill tax was introduced at around 40 € for those landfills with a high
environmental performance, and at a slightly higher rate for those which fell below
this level. The incineration tax was initially set at the same level as for landfilling
where there was no energy recovery. The tax level drops as a greater proportion of
energy is recovered from the process. Since 1999 new laws have been included that
introduce tax rebates for landfill operators who recover and sell energy generated
from the methane gas captured.
The incineration tax has also been changed to reward operators who reduce pollution
below legal limits specified in the EU’s 2001 Waste Incineration Directive. This is
done by changing the mechanism so that it is emissions based and focuses on
pollutants such as CO2, NOx, SOx, particulates and dioxins. The CO2 charge (€4.85) is
per tonne of waste delivered to an incineration plant, and all the additional 14
pollutants are taxed on the basis of the quantity of pollutant emitted. The changes
were introduced in such a way that the overall revenue take would be more or less
unchanged, and so that no major change to the balance of residual waste treatments
would be occasioned by this.
Norway has announced a ban on the landfilling of biodegradable wastes which is due
to take effect very shortly. There was some debate as to whether the policy of choice
should be an outright ban, or whether the policy should be more in line with the
German and Austrian restrictions, but the outcome appears to have favoured a tighter
approach.
52.2.4.14 Sweden
The Swedish policies stem from the Environment Act (1998:808) and the Waste
Regulation (2001:1063). 935 The relevant policies are:
753
� A tax on landfilling of waste from 2000 - to make landfilling a less attractive
option and to increase the economic incentives to reduce waste amounts, and
use waste treatment methods that are preferable from environmental and
natural resources perspectives;
� A ban on landfilling – introduced in 2002 for combustible wastes, and
amended in 2005 to include compostable wastes; and
935 EIONET: European Topic Centre on Resource and Waste Management (2007) Sweden Waste
Factsheet, Accessed 16 th October 2008,
http://waste.eionet.europa.eu/facts/factsheets_waste/Sweden
International Review of Waste Policy: Annexes