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Afgift på farligt affald
The reason for not having introduced taxes on hazardous waste so far is primarily
motivated by the wish for an effective waste collection. The collection of hazardous waste
is however not free, and the charges, which also include costs incurred in connection with
the waste disposal, vary from a few hundred Danish kroner to several thousand Danish
kroner per ton of waste. On this background it could be assumed that an additional tax of
a few hundred Danish kroner per ton of waste, disposed of at approved processing plants,
would not make a big difference as regards the effectiveness of the collection system.
A tax on hazardous waste corresponding to the waste tax will at most generate a yield
of approx. 65 million DKK per year, and the tax should therefore not be implemented due to
fiscal reasons alone.
From an environmental point of view, it should be considered how a tax can e.g. improve
the recycling of hazardous waste. In this connection, it is worth noticing that recycling
of hazardous waste is primarily undertaken by small private enterprises and not by
Kommunekemi, which is only capable of reusing approx. 1 per cent of the hazardous waste
supplied.
In the report, the effects of different models of a tax on hazardous waste are
analyzed. A tax on hazardous waste designed as the exsisting waste tax will only give a
weak signal back into the cost chain to the waste producers. It would be a significant
incentive to the professional actors if the tax on the hazardous waste supplied to the
approved processing plants was refunded according to the quantities of waste going out of
the processing plant. True enough, the tax can be passed on to the producers of hazardous
waste, but it will also increase the competition as to processing hazardous waste. The
operators which can identify remunerative recycling methods will be able to offer lower
prices for accepting the waste. However, it is technically complicated to recycle
hazardous waste and contrary to recycling of non-hazardous waste, where it is relatively
simple to separate different fractions, specialist knowledge is normally required.
Also considering the financial effects of a possible tax, it is a problem that the
competion within disposal of hazardous waste is not very keen. There is thus a risk that a
tax on hazardous waste will just be passed on to the waste producers whereas a tax
reimbursement for recycling waste would be alloted to the waste processors. In this
connection, it is a distinct difference that Kommunekemi and the alternative collectors
and processors of hazardous waste are not restricted by the non-profit principle as
is the case with the ordinary waste processing plants.
On this background, the report describes how a tax on hazardous waste can contribute to
maintain the pressure on the waste producers and the waste processors in order to improve
the recycling practice, and simultaneously the tax may give the fewest possibilities of
windfall profits. This can e.g. be achieved by way of a tax on the deposit of hazardous
waste.
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