Reply ”There are limits to producer responsibility”

In a debate article in Dagens Samhälle on October 7, Rikard Silverfur from Fastighetsägarna Sverige and Jonathan Lindgren from Villaägarna demand that the government act immediately to ensure that the municipalities receive full cost coverage for the collection of packaging from households. But what does full cost coverage actually mean, and is there a limit to how expensive the collection can be in individual municipalities?

That producers who put packaging on the market are responsible for financing collection and recycling is self-evident and not new. What is new, however, is the municipal collection responsibility and the compensation model developed by the producers together with the municipalities’ trade organization Avfall Sverige.

The model is standard-based, and even if it can be improved, any adjustments need to be based on a broader discussion about the level of ambition and level of service rather than from individual municipalities’ cost calculations. An obvious starting point is that the service level for packaging waste should not be higher than for ordinary household waste.

We wonder about the calculation example that Silverfur and Lindgren raise in their article. When we look at the underlying data, we interpret it as being based on a cost item that covers all parts of municipal waste management. The compensation from the producers only refers to the collection of packaging. If the numbers are mixed up, the calculation example will be grossly incorrect.

It is important that the municipal collection is cost-effective. The municipalities now have a unified responsibility for waste, which should be able to lead to coordination gains. In some municipalities this seems to be the case – not all municipalities see the need to raise the waste tax. According to Villaägarna’s operating report, 66 municipalities have lowered their rates and 40 municipalities have refrained from increases since the municipal responsibility for collecting household packaging was introduced.

The question is what incentives are there for individual municipalities to cooperate and keep down the costs of packaging collection in the future, when it is the producers who foot the bill?

The compensation model that has been agreed upon should be the starting point for the municipalities’ work. It’s about adjusting your mouth to the lunch bag, adjusting the level of ambition and learning from other municipalities that have managed to keep their costs down. If a municipality has a higher ambition than what the model covers, one should ask whether the residents are prepared to pay for it.

Henrik Nilsson, head of Business Development & Public Affairs, Näringslivets Producentansvar

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The reply is published in Dagens Samhälle, October 15