Supermarkets and hotels currently pay the highest commercial waste fees in Spain. New data reveals significant disparities in how businesses are taxed for refuse collection.
The findings come from the report ‘Waste Fees in Spain 2025’, prepared by the ENT Foundation. The study concludes that large-footprint businesses, specifically hospitality and retail giants, bear the brunt of municipal waste taxation. Meanwhile, the disparity is particularly acute in major population centres. In addition, restaurants increasingly join the higher tax bracket in smaller municipalities.
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The cost of commercial waste fees in Spain
The financial breakdown provided by the study offers a clear picture of the current fiscal landscape for Spanish businesses:
- Supermarkets: Pay an average of €1,186.16 annually.
- Hotels: Face an average annual bill of €944.80.
- Restaurants: Contribute an average of €613.33 per year.
The report analyses the global waste fee paid by each business. This figure encompasses both municipal collection by local town halls and waste treatment costs. In the Barcelona area specifically, treatment is managed by the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB). For approximately 24,000 businesses in this region, the metropolitan fee alone has risen by an average of €140 in 2026.
Debate over calculation methods for commercial waste fees
The core issue lies in how these fees are calculated. The ENT study notes that the most widespread practice among Spanish municipalities is to determine fees based on a combination of business activity type and premises surface area.
Experts argue that this methodology is flawed. A larger floor space does not necessarily equate to higher waste generation. Benjamí Anglès, a professor of Financial and Tax Law at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), suggests that criticisms levelled at domestic waste fees apply equally to the commercial sector.
“We could say again that the distribution of the total collection among taxpayers would be unfair because it does not take into account the real generation of waste and because it does not incentivize the improvement of recycling,” says Anglès. “Even if taxpayers recycled more and better, that would not affect the fee quota, which would remain the same.”
However, there are exceptions to this rule. Anglès points to Barcelona City Council as a positive example. According to its ordinance, quotas are determined by the volume of waste generated (measured in litres) per day or week.
The private sector alternative for commercial waste
The ENT report highlights a crucial distinction between commercial and residential waste taxation. Unlike households, businesses are not strictly ‘captive’ to municipal services.
Ignasi Puig, a Doctor in Environmental Sciences who directed the report, notes that legally, commercial waste has been gradually decoupled from mandatory municipal collection. Therefore, this allows businesses the option to contract private waste management companies.
Professor Anglès views this as a vital pressure valve for businesses. “In the case of commercial waste, there is an alternative to having to pay an unfair fee-due to the way it is distributed-as long as the private service does it cheaper and takes into account the garbage generated,” he explains.
This flexibility remains unavailable to households. Consequently, citizens rely on the single, mandatory service provided by their local council, regardless of the efficiency or fairness of the fee structure.
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