One tax increase can hide another. In recent weeks there has been a lot of talk about increasing the property tax. It is accompanied by a similar change to the household waste tax that households pay at the same time.
According to a survey by Amorce (National Association of Communities and Companies for the Management of Heat, Energy and Waste Networks) carried out among 92 public inter-municipal cooperation establishments (EPCI) that represent around fifteen million inhabitants, this tax should increase by 10 % over the next year. year 2023, which already amounts to 140 euros per inhabitant on average.
As is the case with most sectors of activity, the increase in the price of fuel and, more generally, of energy fuels this increase in the tax on domestic waste, making collection but also the treatment process more expensive. In addition, materials such as garbage cans or plastic bags are also subject to inflation, while wage increases also influence the increase.
Recovery effects often
The podium of municipalities where the tax has increased the most is made up exclusively of towns located on the outskirts of Paris. Leading the way is Ivry-sur-Seine, which was the last municipality in Val-de-Marne to introduce the Household Waste Disposal Tax (TEOM) two years ago. After freezing local tax rates in 2021 to limit the weight of this introduction, the municipality had no choice but to increase this tax, which will increase by 55% in 2023, including the revaluation of rental bases planned this year at national level .
Closely followed by Sevran and Tremblay-en-France, two municipalities in the north of Seine-Saint-Denis that recorded an increase of 51%. For several years now, responsibility for the collection and treatment of waste has passed into the hands of the Territorial Public Establishment (EPT) Paris Terres d’Envol, which initially set a relatively moderate rate for the TEOM.
Among the top 10 cities where the tax increased the most in 2023, there are also two municipalities of Bouches-du-Rhône: Aix-Vitrolles (+41%) and Istres (+36%). The increase was denounced at the beginning of the year by some elected officials in the metropolis of Aix-Marseille, who attributed it to “a series of questionable budgetary decisions”, such as subsidies of 150 million euros intended to cover the deficit of the Régie des metropolitan transport (RTM). It is part of TEOM’s convergence strategy towards 14% from 2021 for municipalities that were located below this weighted average rate of the Metropolis.
Taxing industrialists, a solution?
Beyond these local disparities, Nicolas Garnier denounces in The Parisian a “waste policy equation that no longer works in France.” “The Agec law (Anti-waste for a circular economy) of 2020 plans to reduce waste by half by 2030, but we are not going to achieve it.” The amount of waste produced by the French remains stable and should decrease by 15%, while the volume recycled by eco-organisms will remains around 50%.
This results in an increase in the cost of disposal due to the increase in the general tax on polluting activities (TGAP) collected by the State, which has increased by 20 euros per ton in the last four years to reach the current 61 euros. The same occurs with the contribution on incinerated waste, which increased from 15 to 23 euros per ton between 2019 and 2023.
To solve this problem, Nicolas Garnier calls for a reorientation of the tax towards manufacturers whose products sold cannot be recycled. “While local authorities see their costs skyrocket, marketers have no limitations and the State generates tax revenue at the expense of communities in the name of the environment,” laments the general delegate of Amorce.
Source: BFM TV
