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

Figure 52-8: Recovery Rates for Waste Fractions in Germany
Generally, the absence of strong evidence should not be taken as evidence of the
absence of an effect. Most countries which deploy landfill taxes and bans, however,
also deploy an armoury of other policy instruments. Taxes and bans tend to support
these policies, and assist in moving waste up the hierarchy, but the degree to which
they, and not other policies, are responsible is difficult to discern.
52.5.5 Reduction in Landfilling
There are generally benefits associated with reducing the quantity of waste disposed
of in landfills, though these vary with the nature of the material, and with the change
in the management method. For example, when plastics are switched from landfill to
incineration, the net impact in terms of climate change is, under most reasonable
assumptions, strongly negative.
The majority of policies discussed in this Section relate to mechanisms for
discouraging disposal of waste in landfill, and this is the focus of the discussion.
However, some mention of the environmental impacts from incineration can be found
below in Section 52.5.6.
The majority of landfill bans indicated in this report relate to wastes of a hazardous
nature (see Section 52.5.1), and bans on combustible or biodegradable wastes. In
terms of combustible waste, the driver for the implementation of regulatory ban has
historically come from those countries with high levels of incineration wanting to
control the flow of waste into their treatment plants, for example, in Demark, The
774
29/09/09