site.btaHousehold Waste Fee to Be Calculated on Basis of Waste Quantity, Parliament Resolves on First Reading

Sofia, September 13 (BTA) - The amount of the household waste fee will be calculated on the basis of the quantity of household waste generated, according to Government-proposed amendments to the Local Taxes and Fees Act that Bulgaria's Parliament passed on first reading Wednesday. The vote was 112 in favour (GERB and United Patriots), 38 against and 33 abstentions.

Under the effective version of the law, the fee is calculated on the basis of the tax-assessed value of the property, without a direct link to the actually generated quantity of waste.

The revisions implement the 'polluter pays' principle as a way to encourage separate waste collection, recycling and composting and, along with that, gives people a financial incentive to reduce the generation of waste and municipalities to optimize their expenditures on waste collection, transportation and treatment, the reasoning reads.

Mayors warn that the household waste fee will be increased up to tenfold in some villages, Dora Yankova MP of BSP for Bulgaria said. Taner Ali MP of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) asked that the application of the law be delayed by at least a year because small municipalities will pay most for waste transportation as they are at the largest distance from the separating facilities. The MRF proposed that the National Association of Municipalities develop a straightforward methodology for classification of municipalities, as the one used for EU-funded projects.