Electronic waste registration and motivational local fees for municipal waste

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Description

Košeca is located in the Trenčín municipal region in the district of Ilava. Currently, it has 2760 inhabitants. Using QR codes, the town registers the collection of 5 different municipal waste elements (paper, plastic, glass, metal, multi-layered materials). Utilising RFID chips and stickers, they record the collection of mixed municipal waste. Based on an electronic register, each local fee payer receives its "extent of separation" (%).  Depending on the extent of separation achieved in the previous year, the fee payer gets a reduction in the following year. In 2019, after implementing the electronic waste register, the expenses decreased by 16% compared to 2018. The actual financial savings for the Košeca range around a few hundred euros a month, covering the operational cost of the electronic waste register system to the full extent. After the launch of the electronic waste register in 2019, 18% less communal waste was collected compared to 2018, and the amounts of separated elements grew by 5-10%. The financial incentive for increased waste separation fully materialised in 2020 for the local fees. The separated share of paper and plastic increased by 40% compared to 2018, metal waste separation grew by almost 16%, and the amount of separated glass increased by 20%.

Economic benefits

The municipality of Koseca was forecast to increase its expenditure on mixed municipal waste management by 6% in 2019 and by up to 17% in 2020. However, following the introduction of the electronic waste registration system, expenditure in 2019 has decreased by 16% compared to 2018. If neither the prices for collection and transportation of mixed municipal waste (MSW) nor the landfill disposal fee had increased in 2020, the municipality's expenditures for the first 7 months of 2020 would have decreased by up to 25% compared to 2018.
However, despite the significantly increased prices and fee in 2020, the real expenditure of the Municipality of Košice on mixed MSW in the first 7 months of 2020 was more than 13% lower than in 2018. The real financial savings in the municipality of Košice amount to several hundred euros per month and fully cover the expenses for the operation of the electronic registration system. At current prices, the return on investment is assumed to be around 2 years.

Environmental benefits

Following the launch of e-recording in 2019, 18% less mixed municipal waste (MSW) was collected than in 2018. In the first 7 months of 2020, 19% less mixed MSW was generated than in 2018. As regards sorted collection, following the launch of electronic recording, the quantities sorted increased by 5-10% in 2019. However, the incentive system of local waste incentive fees was not yet applied in 2019. The financial incentive for higher waste sorting rates only started to be fully reflected in the local waste management charges in 2020. For paper and plastics, sorted quantities increased by 40% in 2020 compared to the 2018 period, sorting of metal packaging increased by almost 16% and the amount of glass sorted increased by almost 20%.

Examples of implementation of the solution in practice

New waste collection system in Košice 
Official Act of the Year 2019 (Source: Slovak Governance Institute [Inštitút SGI], Dominik Jursa)

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