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

funds which it may have spent elsewhere hence reducing employment in other
sectors such as health and education.
52.8.4 Commerce
In England service sector companies will have gained whilst manufacturing industries
will have seen a net loss because the disposal costs will have been higher and the
increased NI contributions less. However, this reveals only the static picture. In some
enterprises, the signalling effect of the tax led to re-appraisal of waste management
expenditures and, subsequently, to changes in behaviour which left the company in a
better financial position after the tax than before. 986
52.9 Complementary Policies
As discussed in this section of the report, the effects of policies are very much linked.
We describe each and how they relate to taxes and regulatory bans under the
headings below.
52.9.1 Pay by Use
As disposal costs increase (and both taxes and bans have this effect), so the rationale
for avoiding disposal increases. The potential for a rational structuring of charges
under pay-by-use schemes increases as disposal costs increase, enabling charge
structures to incentivise prevention and recycling in a manner consistent with the
costs of service delivery.
52.9.2 Producer Responsibility
Many countries have indicated the importance of this policy in driving recycling
initiatives and diverting waste from landfill. As with pay-by-use, the financial rationale
for recycling and prevention is strengthened by higher avoided costs of disposal.
52.9.3 Compulsory Collections of Biowaste / Pre-treatment
In some jurisdictions, such as Massachusetts in the US, ‘landfill bans’ are
implemented which are not, strictly speaking, bans. Local authorities comply with the
ban through delivering source separation of materials specified as being banned from
landfill. Rather than constituting a ban, these measures imply a requirement for
source separation.
Some countries with more ‘genuine’ bans in place do make use of requirements to
source separate materials. In Austria the Ordinance on the Separate Collection of
Biowaste (1995) specifies materials which the householder must either compost at
home, or must separate for collection by local authorities. The remained biowaste
must be pre-treated to stabilise it before disposal in landfill. Since 1994 in the
Netherlands, municipalities have the obligation to collect organic waste and the
986 ECOTEC (2001) Study on the Economic and Environmental Implications of the use of Env. Taxes &
Charges in the EU.
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