Tasa de vertido

The landfill rate measures the percentage of waste deposited in landfill relative to the total waste generated in a territory or management system. This indicator reflects how dependent an economy is on final disposal, compared with the higher options of the waste hierarchy: prevention, reuse, recycling and recovery.

A high landfill rate signals environmental inefficiency, loss of resources and rising costs linked to the treatment and maintenance of landfills. A progressive reduction, by contrast, marks a transition towards circular models, where waste is reintegrated as secondary raw materials or energy sources.

European and Spanish regulatory context

The Landfill Directive 1999/31/EC, amended by Directive (EU) 2018/850, sets the technical obligations and landfill reduction targets for Member States.

From 2035, EU law requires that no more than 10% of the municipal waste generated is sent to landfill (with a possible five-year extension to 2040, up to 25%, for Member States that landfilled more than 60% of municipal waste in 2013).

Spain transposes these requirements through Law 7/2022 on waste and contaminated soil for a circular economy, which introduces two key instruments:

• A state tax on landfilling and incineration, in force since 2023.
• A system of mandatory annual landfill reporting for regional and local authorities.

The Spanish State Framework Waste Management Plan sets out national targets aligned with the European trajectory towards the 10% landfill target by 2035.

Types of landfill and scope

• Non-hazardous waste landfills: receive the reject fraction from treatment plants.
• Hazardous waste landfills: for industrial sludge, ash or contaminated materials.
• Inert waste landfills: receive chemically stable construction and demolition waste (CDW).

Each type is subject to requirements on lining, leachate and gas control, as well as closure and after-care plans.

Environmental and social impacts

Landfilling is the least desirable option in the hierarchy because of its multiple impacts:

• Greenhouse gas emissions: the methane (CH4) released during anaerobic decomposition has a global warming potential around 28 times that of CO2 over 100 years (IPCC).
• Soil and water pollution: from the infiltration of leachate containing heavy metals or organic compounds.
• Land take and landscape loss.
• Health risk: proliferation of vectors and odour emissions.

Reducing the landfill rate therefore means improving environmental quality, public health and the economic efficiency of the system.

Economic instruments: the landfill tax

The state tax created by Law 7/2022 introduces a harmonised levy across Spain, calculated per tonne of waste deposited.

Its aim is to discourage disposal and finance prevention and recycling measures. As a reference, the tax sets a rate of 40 EUR per tonne for non-hazardous municipal waste sent to landfill, with lower rates for inert waste and specific rates for incineration with energy recovery (around 15 EUR per tonne for municipal waste). Regions may apply their own regional surcharges.

Revenue is generally earmarked for regional sustainability funds or programmes to modernise treatment plants.

Strategies to reduce the landfill rate

1. Implement mandatory separate collection of organics, packaging, paper and board, and glass.
2. Develop recovery infrastructure (composting, anaerobic digestion, chemical recycling).
3. Apply pay-as-you-throw (PAYT), so that those who generate more reject waste pay more.
4. Promote extended producer responsibility (EPR) and packaging ecodesign.
5. Strengthen control and digital traceability of flows to prevent illegal dumping.
6. Plan the progressive closure of obsolete landfills and the restoration of degraded sites.

Technological innovation at landfills

Although the goal is to minimise their use, today's landfills incorporate control and recovery technologies:

• Capture and use of landfill gas (biogas) to generate electricity or heat.
• Leachate drainage and treatment systems using reverse osmosis or bioreactors.
• Environmental monitoring through IoT sensors and drone surveillance.
• Final capping with geosynthetic covers and revegetation to restore the landscape.

These measures reduce impacts while the site moves towards definitive closure.

Relationship with other indicators

• Recycling rate: increasing it directly reduces landfilling.
• Recovery rate: includes recycling and energy recovery, subtracting from the volume landfilled.
• Material footprint: a fall in landfilling implies more efficient use of materials.

The balance between these metrics defines the maturity of the waste management system.

Economic and social impact

Reducing the landfill rate lowers the long-term costs of landfill maintenance and after-care, avoids European penalties and generates green jobs in the recycling and composting sectors. It also improves the environmental reputation of regions and attracts investment linked to industrial sustainability.

Remaining challenges

• Lack of data harmonisation between regions.
• Insufficient treatment infrastructure in rural areas.
• Social resistance to the siting of new recovery plants.
• Need for citizen awareness of the real cost of landfilling.

Future outlook

Meeting the European 10% target will require:

• Integrating the digitalisation of waste data into interoperable national platforms.
• Promoting the zero waste economy, prioritising prevention and reuse.
• Converting former landfills into green infrastructure or renewable energy sites through the use of landfill gas.

The EU Circular Economy Action Plan (2020), and the forthcoming Circular Economy Act expected under the Clean Industrial Deal, point towards stronger environmental taxation and public-private cooperation to divert recyclable materials from landfill. At Manglai we help companies measure their carbon footprint and prepare their sustainability reporting. Discover how Manglai can help you.