Table 3.1 Municipal solid waste (MSW) management and selected policy instruments in European countries, 2001–2015

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Topics: Resource efficiency and waste

Country	Percentage of MSW recycled per MSW generated, 2014	Percentage of MSW landfilled per MSW generated, 2014	Two or more national waste management plans developed between 2001 and 2015 or latest available year	Only regional waste management plans	Landfill tax increased by more than 50 % from 2001 to latest available year	Landfill tax at least EUR 30/tonne MSW, latest available year	Incineration tax	Landfill ban on organic waste or non-pretreated MSW	Mandatory separate collection of bio-waste fractions	Pay-as- you-throw or other economic incentives for recycling MSW
Austria	56	4	×		× Tax on reactive waste in compliant landfills until 2009	× Tax on reactive waste in compliant landfills until 2009	×	×	×	×
Belgium	55	1		×	(×) In Wallonia increase more than 50 %	×	×	×		(×) (Only in Flanders and Wallonia)
Bulgaria	23	69	×		×				× (Ordinance of 2013)
Croatia	16	80	×		(No tax)	(No tax)
Cyprus	18	76	×
Czech Republic	25	56	×		×				×	(×)
Denmark	44	1	×			×	×	×		(×)
Estonia	31	6	×		×	×		×		×
Finland	33	17	Two plans in the period 1998–2008		×	×		×	×	×
France	39	26		×	×	×	×	×		(×)
Germany	64	1		×	(No tax)	(No tax)		×	×	×
Greece	19	81	×		(No tax)	(No tax)				(×)
Hungary	31	57	×		×			×	(×) Green waste collection mandatory since 2015	(×)
Iceland	30	66	×		(No tax)	(No tax)
Ireland	37	38		×	×	×		(×)	× (Food waste collection as of 2016)	× (Regulation of 2015)
Italy	42	31		×					(×) Only in some regions	(×)
Latvia	21	79	×		×
Lithuania	30	59	×		Tax will be introduced in 2016			(×) Ban on landfilling biodegradable waste from gardens and parks		×
Luxembourg	47	18	Two plans from 2000 to 2010		(No tax)	(No tax)		×	×	×
Malta	11	80	×		(No tax)	(No tax)
Netherlands	51	1	×		× (Tax abolished in 2012)			×	×	× 40 % of municipalities
Norway	42	3	(×) (White Paper covering waste 2006–2007 and Waste Strategy 2013)			× Tax abolished in 2015	(×) Tax abolished in 2010	×
Poland	32	53	×		×			× (Biodegradable waste collected separately )
Portugal	30	49	×		×		×
Romania	13	72			(No tax)	(No tax)
Slovakia	10	66	×						×	× Coverage unknown
Slovenia	36	23						×		×
Spain	33	55	×		(Tax only in regions of Catalonia and Castile and León)		(×) (Only in the region of Catalonia)	(×) Ban on the disposal of recyclable materials	(×) In the region of Catalonia and some other municipalities of other regions	(×)
Sweden	50	1	×		×	×	Tax abolished in 2010	×		×
Switzerland	54	0		×				×		×
Turkey	0.4	83	×		(No tax)	(No tax)
United Kingdom	44	28		×	×	×

Sources: Eurostat, 2016a; Environment Agency of Iceland, 2016 (recycling and landfill rates); ETC/WMGE, 2016.

Notes: (×) means that the instrument in the country is not mandatory or is implemented only in some regions or municipalities. On account of a lack of data: for Ireland and Greece2013 instead of 2014 data are used; for Turkey 2012 instead of 2014 data are used.

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