For years, sending waste to landfill has been the cheapest option. That is changing fast. Between regulatory pressure and landfill taxes, the cost per tonne is rising steadily, and not recovering waste is becoming an expensive decision. Here is why.
Landfill cost is no longer stable
The price of landfilling a tonne of waste combines several factors: the facility gate fee, transport and, increasingly, environmental taxation. In Spain, Law 7/2022 on waste introduced a national landfill tax that progressively raises the cost of this route, in line with the European trend of penalising non-recovered waste.
The direction is clear: landfill cost per tonne will keep rising in the coming years, and so will the bill for anyone without an alternative.
Why it rises up to 2030
- Regulation: Directive (EU) 2018/850 restricts landfilling recoverable waste from 2030 and sets the 10% cap for 2035.
- Taxation: landfill taxes are increasing and spreading across regions and countries.
- Capacity shortage: as cells close, pressure on the remaining ones drives the service cost up.
The hidden cost of not recovering
Beyond the gate fee, not recovering waste carries less visible but real costs: loss of cell lifespan, greater regulatory exposure, reputational risk and the forgone potential revenue. Waste stops being a technical liability and becomes a financial one.
Recovery changes the equation
Against a rising cost, recovery through pyrolysis turns that same waste into products with industrial value. Instead of paying to get rid of rejects, you generate a resource. For landfills and large managers, this means protecting the asset and opening a new revenue stream.
Want to know what landfill costs you today and the savings recovery could bring? Request an assessment and we will analyse it with you.
