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

754
� A tax on incineration from 2006 - modelled on the fossil carbon content of fuel
and on the level of electrical generation.
The Swedish landfill tax was introduced in 2000 at a rate of about € 27 (250 SEK)
per tonne. The primary aim was to halve the amount of waste landfilled by 2005 from
1994. 936 In 2002 the rate was increased, and also again in 2006, to the current level
of around € 45.5 (435 SEK). The tax is designed so that all waste going to landfill is
taxed. Waste that exits a landfill or is used as construction material qualifies for a tax
reduction. Waste for which no treatment method (other than landfilling) is applicable
is also subject to tax.
Concurrently with the tax increase in 2002, a ban on sorted combustible waste was
introduced. The purpose of this was to reduce the environmental impacts associated
with landfilling and increase resource efficiency. In 2005 the ban was extended to
include all organic wastes. Certain types of waste are exempted from the ban, for
example, waste with a Total Organic Content (TOC) of less than 10% (dry matter).
The capacity of Swedish incinerators increased substantially between 1996 and
2002. 937 Much of this was due to the substantial district heating systems already in
place whereby the source of the heat was switched from fossil fuels to waste-derived
incineration plants, some operating as CHP facilities, others operating with heat-only
boilers (HOB). One of the main drivers for this change was the Swedish energy policy
that gives incentives for the use of energy derived from waste, over fossil fuels, via
the economic instrument of taxation. 938 In total, 30 MSW incineration plants exist in
Sweden; 16 are CHP plants, 13 are HOB, and one plant delivers steam to an
industrial user. 939
A tax on waste-to-energy incineration of municipal solid waste (MSW) was introduced
on July 1, 2006. The was designed to give CHP plants an advantage compared with
HOB, but also to increase the incentive for material recycling, including biological
treatment, and to effectively align the taxation of incineration with the energy taxation
system, where incineration of wastes of fossil origin was not burdened with energy
and CO2 taxation as other fossil fuels are. 940
The amount of the tax is calculated based on a model of the content of fossil material
in the waste. 941 The amount of the tax is dependent on whether the taxable
936 OECD (2004) Environmental Performance Reviews: Sweden. Paris: OECD.
937 European Environment Agency (2007) The road from landfilling to recycling: common destination,
different routes, http://reports.eea.europa.eu/brochure_2007_4
938 T. Ekvall, M. Olofsson, J. Sahlin and J. Sundberg (2005) Driving forces for import of waste for energy
recovery in Sweden, http://www.bvsde.paho.org/bvsacd/cd43/matias.pdf
939 Avfall Sverige (2008) Swedish Waste Mangement,
http://www.avfallsverige.se/se/netset/files3/web/P01.m4n?download=true&id=2371_94867351
940 Swedish Ministry of Finance (2006) Proposition 2005/06:125 Beskattning av visst hushållsavfall
som förbränns, m.m. (Taxation of some household waste for incineration), Ministry of Finance, 2006
941 Avfall Sverige (2008) Swedish Waste Mangement,
http://www.avfallsverige.se/se/netset/files3/web/P01.m4n?download=true&id=2371_94867351
29/09/09