How Europe’s Waste Taxes Distort Recovery, Landfill and Trade
A new RDF Industry Group report examining residual waste taxation across 38 European countries.
Europe’s waste taxes differ sharply in their rates, design and application. These differences can create unequal competition between recovery facilities and weaken incentives to divert residual waste from landfill.
Our report maps landfill taxes and restrictions alongside incineration taxes and carbon-pricing exposure, examining what this fragmented framework means for recovery, recycling and cross-border waste movements.
A fragmented European landscape
The 2026 analysis identifies landfill taxes in 24 of 38 countries (63%), ranging from approximately €11 to €154 per tonne. Incineration taxation is identified in 13 countries (34%), with combined burdens ranging from €8 to approximately €98 per tonne.
Countries also differ in what they tax: waste tonnage, fossil-carbon emissions, energy input or heat output. Some combine several charges, while others rely primarily on regulatory restrictions to deter landfill.
The report argues that treatment decisions should reflect suitable capacity, efficiency and environmental performance, rather than differences in national tax burdens. A more coordinated European approach could improve the use of existing recovery infrastructure, including facilities supplying district heat or developing carbon capture and storage.
Carbon pricing must be considered alongside landfill
As carbon pricing expands, its interaction with existing waste taxes becomes increasingly important.
The report’s full-exposure ETS stress test applies an assumed carbon price of €110/tCO₂ alongside expected 2030 national taxes. It shows how the tax incentive for recovery could narrow or reverse without wider reform, particularly where landfill remains available and insufficiently deterred.
The implications extend to recycling: higher taxes on treating sorting and recycling residues can also increase the cost of producing recycled materials, weakening their competitiveness against virgin alternatives.
Our recommendations
RDFIG is calling for policymakers to:
- Maintain effective landfill deterrence through sufficient taxation or restrictions.
- Align national fiscal frameworks and recovery-capacity planning across Europe.
- Make ETS the principal carbon-pricing mechanism for EfW, phasing out or redesigning additional EfW-specific taxes.
- Standardise carbon-cost measurement, allocation and pass-through, allowing suppliers to benefit from reducing fossil-carbon content.
- Protect the competitiveness of recycled materials, accounting for the treatment of recycling residues.
- Support practical emissions reductions and investment in sorting, fossil-carbon reduction, heat recovery and CCS.
For further information or press enquiries, contact secretariat@rdfindustrygroup.org.