The Spanish Federation of Large Families (FEFN) and its associations in the different autonomous communities are asking local councils not to penalise large families in the new waste management tax, which they have to apply in compliance with a European directive aimed at reducing pollution. This regulation must be complied with by April 2025 for all municipalities, including those with less than 5,000 inhabitants.
The FEFN was alerted to this issue after learning that some municipalities had planned to update the refuse tax to include a surcharge per person, which is clearly detrimental to large families. The FEFN denounced this as a new penalisation of large families and asked for support from the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP), stressing the importance of supporting families with more children because of the social contribution they make and bearing in mind that not because there are more of them, they generate more waste. He also met with the Directorate General of Taxes of the Ministry of Finance to analyse the bonuses for families with more children through the Law of Local Treasuries, which includes this possibility in its article 24.
Now, through its associations throughout Spain, it will approach the local councils to take into account the characteristics of these households in the new rubbish tax. The FEFN asks the local councils to make use of the right they have in the aforementioned law and to include a rebate for large families in the next municipal by-laws.
Efficient and responsible consumption
The FEFN reminds that large families, made up of an average of 5 people, are large consumers, but generate less waste per capita than other households. Because of their composition, tight economy and philosophy of life, they are efficient and sustainable in terms of the joint use of many goods and products. They recycle clothes, toys, children’s items…, buy products in family sizes and XL formats, which means less use of plastics and other packaging. In addition, for economic reasons, they practise ‘wasteful cooking’, which also means less food waste.