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

54.11 Lessons Learned
A complex system can be very balanced and can contain a lot of measures to avoid
adverse effects or unjust levies, but a complex system opens a lot of space for
discussion, and many issues of interpretation. A simple system is more transparent
and easier to manage and to control. The right balance between simplicity and
complexity has to be found.
Very high standards for the administration are necessary, as the system is susceptible
to fraud, since large amounts of money are involved and interpretation issues can
arise.
It should not be able to offset levies against corporate taxes, unless a choice is made
for a financing contribution instead of a regulating levy.
The German model for introducing a landfill ban (a strict ban with a future starting
date) is more able to stir waste treatment and recycling investments than the Flemish
approach with an immediate introduction and a system for exemptions.
Levies can support the waste treatment hierarchy, if they serve to make landfilling
more expensive than incineration, and definitely more expensive than recycling.
54.12 Prerequisites for Introduction
The following would appear to be pre-requisites for such levies:
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� Legal and fiscal know-how within the waste administration;
� Enough manpower for a strict follow up, both for interpreting the levy
declarations on paper and the inspection on the field; and
� Political will to introduce a tax.
International Review of Waste Policy: Annexes