The proposed waste law split the field: Will the legal change correct the distortion of competition in the market or will it weaken the availability of waste management services?

(For subscribers.) The reform of the Waste Act divides opinion makers into two camps, but the government's proposed five percent sell-out limit also raises doubts in the private sector. The recent ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union has changed the starting points on which the reform was prepared. 79 opinions were issued on the amendment to the Waste Act by the end of July. Private waste management companies mainly support the bill, while municipalities and municipal waste operators see risks in it. The so-called Waste Act 2 amendment proposal is related to the entry in Petteri Orpo's government program, which aims to limit municipalities' secondary waste management responsibility only to genuine market failure situations. According to the bill, municipalities would have to separate their accounting for secondary waste management services (the so-called TSV service) and report essential information about it on the waste and side-streams information platform, i.e. the Material Market. Supervision of secondary waste management services would be tightened with checks and a supervision plan. The fee charged for the TSV service should include a reasonable return, and the return should be used to maintain and develop waste management services. If the waste holder rejects the waste management offer received at the Material Market, the holder would in future have to justify the reasons for the rejection. The out-selling limit is proposed to be reduced to five percent. In addition, the government wants to unify the out-selling limits of affiliated units so that municipal waste companies would be allowed to sell market-based services for a maximum of five...