Spoľahlivé dáta: Cesta k lepšiemu triedeniu odpadov

The “pay for what you throw away” principle shifts municipal waste billing from a flat fee to the actual amount. While metering is taken for granted in energy, most Slovak municipalities still charge everyone the same. The lecture shows why quantity-based collection is fairer, more environmentally friendly, and how it can be implemented in practice.

Why flat fees for waste are harmful

If everyone pays the same regardless of the amount of waste produced, there is no motivation to reduce waste and sort conscientiously. A flat fee is also unfair: those who sort more indirectly subsidize those who sort less. In energy we pay according to meters, but with waste most towns and municipalities do not measure quantities. The result is more mixed municipal waste ending up in landfills or incinerators and less pressure on preventing waste generation.

What quantity-based collection is and how it incentivizes

Quantity-based collection is a legislative option to bill according to the actual waste generated. It can be set up in various ways: by container size, collection interval, number of emptyings, or directly by the weight of the waste. Whatever the form, it changes people’s behavior and economically motivates sorting and reducing mixed waste. Less mixed waste also means a lighter burden on landfills and incinerators.

Economics matter too: the collection of packaging (plastics, glass, etc.) is financed by producers under extended responsibility, so municipalities’ primary costs are for mixed waste. The more that is sorted, the less the local government pays and the lower the fees for residents can be. The system is fairer because everyone pays in proportion to their waste production. In addition, it brings data for transparent relationships between the hauler and the municipality and for informed decision-making.

Data, technologies, and experiences of Slovak cities

A reliable collection of data is a prerequisite. The system uses RFID tags on containers and readers on vehicles; it records the time and place of each emptying and reads the container’s code. Uniquely, it can, with a certain probability, capture emptyings without a tag, which helps detect unauthorized or damaged containers. The data flow to the cloud: haulers see anonymous codes for verification and invoicing, municipalities see specific producers, while integration with municipal systems also enables fair fees.

Interest is growing because the solutions deliver results. In Senec, they put their containers in order, non-payers came forward and registered, and the sorting rate rose from 20 to 53 percent; however, this is not the achievement of a single technology but of a package of measures. In Žilina, the hauler T+T uses the data mainly for objective, two-component invoicing based on quantity and the number of emptyings. In Krásno nad Kysucou, the weight of the waste is also taken into account, and in Jelka each emptying costs approximately 4 to 4,50 euros, which brought a 15 percent increase in sorting over the past year.

Reliable data: The way to better waste sorting

Why flat fees for waste are harmful

What quantity-based collection is and how it incentivizes

Data, technologies, and experiences of Slovak cities

Matej Šiškovič

Reliable data: The way to better waste sorting

Why flat fees for waste are harmful

What quantity-based collection is and how it incentivizes

Data, technologies, and experiences of Slovak cities

Matej Šiškovič

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