Spain’s landfill and incineration tax (Impuesto sobre el depósito de residuos en vertederos, la incineración y la coincineración de residuos) is an environmental levy created by Ley 7/2022 to push companies up the waste hierarchy. Since 1 January 2023, every tonne sent to landfill or municipal waste incineration carries a state tax rate, and autonomous communities can add regional surcharges. For manufacturers, retailers, logistics operators and waste producers, the cost is no longer only the gate fee: it is a regulated fiscal line item declared quarterly through Modelo 593.
This guide explains how the tax fits into Ley 7/2022, what triggers liability for landfill versus incineration, official rates, compliance steps and how structured waste data helps you reduce exposure while feeding carbon and CSRD reporting.
What Ley 7/2022 changed for waste in Spain
Ley 7/2022, de 8 de abril, de residuos y suelos contaminados para una economía circular, replaced the old waste framework with a single statute aligned to the EU circular economy package. Its objectives include higher recycling and preparation for reuse, better separate collection (especially organic waste), extended producer responsibility and economic instruments that penalise the least sustainable treatment routes.
Title VII of the law creates two environmental taxes:
- Chapter I: the plastic packaging tax (IEPNR), on non-recycled plastic in single-use packaging.
- Chapter II: the landfill and incineration tax, on waste delivered to landfills, incineration plants or co-incineration facilities.
Both taxes share the same policy logic: make landfill and energy recovery without material recycling more expensive, so prevention, reuse and recycling become the default business choices. The law entered into force in April 2022; Title VII applied from 1 January 2023.
The Agencia Tributaria hub is the operational reference for Modelo 593, registration and FAQs.
What the landfill and incineration tax covers
Under articles 84 to 97 of Ley 7/2022, the tax is an indirect levy on the delivery of waste for:
- Landfill disposal in authorised public or private landfills (operations D01, D05, D12).
- Incineration for disposal or energy recovery in authorised incineration plants.
- Co-incineration in authorised co-incineration plants (state rate: EUR 0/tonne, but regional rules may differ where competence is ceded).
The taxable base is the weight in metric tonnes (three decimals) of waste landfilled, incinerated or co-incinerated, determined per installation (article 92).
The tax accrues at the moment waste is deposited in the landfill or incinerated/co-incinerated (article 90).
Tip: The tax follows the treatment route, not your internal waste name. The same production scrap can trigger different rates depending on whether it goes to a non-hazardous landfill, a hazardous landfill, an R01 energy-recovery incinerator or a D10 disposal incinerator. Match LER codes and installation classification before budgeting.
Who pays: contributors and substitute taxpayers
Contributors (article 91.1) are the persons or entities that perform the taxable event: they deliver waste to the landfill or incineration/co-incineration plant.
Substitute taxpayers (article 91.2) are the managers of landfills or incineration/co-incineration plants when they are not the same as the contributor. In practice, the plant operator usually acts as substitute: it calculates the tax, files Modelo 593 and passes the amount through on the invoice (article 94), unless the contributor must self-assess.
If you generate waste but never touch the plant gate, you still feel the tax through higher treatment invoices. If you operate a landfill or incinerator, you have direct filing obligations, territorial registration and certified weighing systems (article 95.7).
Official tax rates: landfill vs incineration
State rates under article 93.1 (before any regional increase):
Landfill (selected rates)
| Waste type / landfill | Rate (EUR/t) |
|---|---|
| Municipal waste in non-hazardous landfill | 40 |
| Rejects from municipal waste treatment in non-hazardous landfill | 30 |
| Other non-hazardous waste (general) | 10 |
| Hazardous waste in hazardous landfill (general) | 5 |
| Inert waste in inert landfill (general) | 1.5 |
Higher rates apply to waste exempted from prior treatment under Real Decreto 646/2020 (article 7.2), which penalises sending recyclable material straight to disposal.
Incineration (selected rates)
| Installation / waste | Rate (EUR/t) |
|---|---|
| Municipal incinerator classified D10 (disposal): municipal waste | 20 |
| Municipal incinerator classified D10: rejects from municipal treatment | 15 |
| Municipal incinerator classified R01 (energy recovery): municipal waste | 15 |
| Municipal incinerator classified R01: rejects from municipal treatment | 10 |
| Other incineration plants: municipal waste | 20 |
| Co-incineration (state rate) | 0 |
Classification as D10 or R01 depends on energy efficiency thresholds notified by the regional authority (article 95.6). That distinction can change your rate by several euros per tonne on large municipal flows.
Regional surcharges: under article 93.2, autonomous communities may increase these state rates for waste treated in their territory. Several regions have ceded management of the tax and apply higher effective rates. Always check the rules in the region where the installation is located.
Compliance: Modelo 593, registration and deadlines
Administrative rules are set in Orden HFP/1337/2022, which approves Modelo 593 and the territorial register of taxpayers.
Key obligations:
- Quarterly self-assessment within the first 30 calendar days of the month after each natural quarter (article 95.2 Ley 7/2022).
- Mandatory electronic filing through the AEAT portal.
- Registration in the territorial register before starting activity (article 95.4). Failure to register is a serious tax offence with a EUR 1,000 fixed fine (article 96.2).
- One return per autonomous community where taxable events occur, unless the tax office authorises centralised filing for multiple sites in the same region.
- Chronological record of waste landfilled, incinerated or co-incinerated (article 95.5), aligned with the law’s waste traceability archive (article 64).
Exemptions (article 89) include waste already taxed, legally mandated destruction routes, certain inert restoration flows and force majeure deliveries ordered by public authorities.
How to reduce landfill and incineration tax exposure
The tax is designed to reward behaviour higher up the waste hierarchy: prevention, reuse, separate collection, recycling and organic treatment before disposal.
Practical levers for companies:
- Segregate at source by material and LER code so recyclables never reach residual bins billed as municipal waste.
- Audit treatment contracts: confirm whether waste goes to recycling (R codes), landfill (D01/D12) or incineration (D10/R01) and whether prior treatment rules apply.
- Reduce rejects from sorting plants by improving input quality; rejects often face EUR 30/t landfill or EUR 15/t incineration rates.
- Prioritise organic separate collection where municipal systems exist; Ley 7/2022 treats biowaste as a priority fraction.
- Design for recyclability on packaging to align with SCRAP obligations and avoid residual waste streams.
- Track tonnes by destination monthly, not only at year-end, so tax spikes appear before contracts renew.
The same dataset supports Scope 3 Category 5 (waste generated in operations) in your carbon footprint: landfill, incineration and recycling each carry different emission factors.
How Dcycle helps manage waste tax and reporting data
Dcycle is not a waste broker or tax advisor. It is the data layer that connects operational waste flows to tax exposure, carbon inventory and CSRD ESRS E5 circular economy disclosures:
Waste streams by site, LER code and treatment route. Record tonnes sent to recycling, landfill, incineration or composting with evidence (carrier tickets, plant certificates). See which sites drive the highest landfill or incineration tax pass-through before quarterly invoices arrive.
Link physical waste to financial cost. Treatment invoices sit alongside tonnage and destination, so sustainability and finance teams quantify the euro impact of diversion projects.
Scope 3 and ESRS alignment. Verified waste data flows into GHG inventories (Category 5) and CSRD waste generation, diversion and circularity metrics without duplicate spreadsheets.
Integration with packaging and plastic tax data. The same platform that tracks plastic packaging tax and SCRAP declarations consolidates Ley 7/2022 obligations in one governed dataset.
Multi-site consolidation. Groups with plants, warehouses and stores across several regions consolidate waste tonnage and treatment mix before audits, customer questionnaires or internal targets.
Audit-ready traceability. Each tonne links to source documents and classification logic, supporting conversations with plant operators, verifiers and CSRD assurance providers.
Request a demo to see how Dcycle connects waste data, carbon reporting and Ley 7/2022 compliance workflows.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
Is the landfill tax the same as the incineration tax?
It is a single tax with one legal regime under Ley 7/2022 Chapter II, but rates differ by treatment route. Landfill disposal, incineration and co-incineration are separate taxable events with different euro-per-tonne rates. Municipal waste in landfill is taxed at EUR 40/t at state level, while municipal waste incinerated in a D10 plant is EUR 20/t before regional surcharges.
Who files Modelo 593?
Substitute taxpayers (usually landfill or incineration plant managers) normally calculate, declare and pass through the tax. Contributors who perform the taxable event themselves may have to self-assess. Quarterly Modelo 593 filing is mandatory by electronic means under Orden HFP/1337/2022.
Can autonomous communities charge more than the state rate?
Yes. Article 93.2 Ley 7/2022 allows regions to increase state rates for waste treated in their territory. Several communities manage the tax under ceded competence. Check the applicable rate in the region where the installation is located, not only the state table.
Does co-incineration always pay zero tax?
At state level, co-incineration is taxed at EUR 0/t under article 93.1.g). Regional rules may differ where the tax is ceded. Co-incineration remains subject to environmental permitting and may still affect your Scope 3 waste emissions profile.
How does this tax relate to the plastic packaging tax?
Both are environmental taxes in Title VII of Ley 7/2022. The plastic tax targets non-recycled plastic in packaging by weight of virgin plastic. The landfill/incineration tax targets tonnes sent to disposal or incineration regardless of material. Better packaging design and SCRAP compliance reduce residual waste that later hits landfill or incineration tax rates.