## Disposal is Not Free: Fiscal Instruments to Internalize the Environmental Costs of Solid Waste

_IMF Working Papers, December 20, 2019_

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## Bibliographic details
- Authors: Thornton Matheson
- Published: December 20, 2019
- Series: IMF Working Papers
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781513521589.001

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### Overview and main findings
- Provides an overview of global solid waste generation, its environmental costs, and fiscal instruments to encourage waste reduction and finance proper disposal.
- Notes that countries—especially island nations—struggle to manage an ever-increasing volume of solid waste, with generation projected to exceed 2 billion tons a year by 2025.
- Highlights that although solid waste management is usually relegated to subnational governments, externalities from inadequate management (including greenhouse gas emissions and ocean plastic pollution) reach global scale.
- Argues that national governments play a critical role in creating incentives for waste minimization and ensuring adequate resources for proper waste management.
- Evaluates potential fiscal instruments for achieving these goals, with particular attention to developing country policy environments.

### Fiscal instruments evaluated
- advance disposal fee
- deposit-refund
- environmental tax
- extended producer responsibility
- landfill tax
- plastic bag tax
- property tax
- tipping fee
- virgin material tax

### Policy implications and recommendations
- Use fiscal instruments to internalize environmental externalities from solid waste and to finance proper disposal.
- Design instruments mindful of developing country policy environments and local government roles, since management is often delegated subnationally.
- Create national-level incentives and resource mechanisms to address global-scale externalities such as greenhouse gas emissions and ocean plastic pollution.
- Consider combinations of instruments (for example, extended producer responsibility with landfill taxes or tipping fees) tailored to country context and capacity.

### Key statistics and metadata
- Generation projected to exceed 2 billion tons a year by 2025.
- Pages: 36
- Volume: 2019
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781513521589.001
- Issue: 283
- Series: Working Paper No. 2019/283
- Stock No: WPIEA2019283
- ISBN: 9781513521589
- ISSN: 1018-5941
- Author: Thornton Matheson
- Publication date: December 20, 2019
- Preview citation includes: Thornton Matheson. "Disposal is Not Free: Fiscal Instruments to Internalize the Environmental Costs of Solid Waste", IMF Working Papers 2019, 283 (2019), accessed 9/18/2026, https://doi.org/10.5089/9781513521589.001

*Source: IMF Working Paper — Disposal is Not Free: Fiscal Instruments to Internalize the Environmental Costs of Solid Waste (Working Paper No. 2019/283).*

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/wp/issues/2019/12/20/disposal-is-not-free-fiscal-instruments-to-internalize-the-environmental-costs-of-solid-waste-48854_