Assessing Waste Taxation: an Empirical Study in a Cge Multi-Pollutant Framework

Economic theory states that incineration and landfill taxes can be a good policy to reduce environmental impacts of these activities by reducing their importance and associated pollutants, while stimulating reuse and recycling of materials. In this research we assess the economic and environmental effects of these taxes in Spain with the use of a detailed dynamic CGE model, under different scenarios. We focus the economic impact on GDP and sectorial production, and the environmental impact on different impact categories: global warming potential, marine eutrophication potential, photochemical ozone formation potential, particulate matter, human toxicity (cancer and non-cancer), ecotoxicity, and depletion of fossil resources). We find in all scenarios that these taxes have a limited economic impact, while reduce all of the environmental impact categories analyzed.