Law 7/2022 on Waste and Contaminated Soils: what it is and how it affects businesses

Law 7/2022, of April 8, on waste and contaminated soils for a circular economy is one of the most relevant regulations within the Spanish environmental framework in recent years. Its objective is not only to regulate waste management, but also to promote a more preventive, more efficient model that is better aligned with the circular economy.

For many companies, this law entails reviewing how they generate, separate, document, and manage their waste, as well as how they design their packaging and products. Therefore, beyond the legal text, it is important to understand what really changes, who it affects, and what practical implications it has in day-to-day business operations.

What is Law 7/2022?

Law 7/2022 is the national regulation that establishes the basic framework for waste and contaminated soils in Spain. It replaces previous legislation and incorporates a broader vision in which prevention, reuse, recycling, and the responsibility of different stakeholders carry significantly more weight.

In practice, this law reinforces the transition from a linear “use and dispose” model to one in which materials remain within the production system for longer. Hence its direct relationship with issues such as waste management in companies, recovery, and the circularity of materials.

What is this law for and why is it important?

The regulation aims to reduce waste generation, improve its management, reduce the associated environmental impact, and strengthen soil protection. It also introduces tools to ensure that the circular economy ceases to be a theoretical concept and becomes a progressive obligation for public administrations, producers, and businesses.

Its importance lies in the fact that it is no longer sufficient to properly manage waste once it appears. The law encourages action at earlier stages: in design, prevention, source separation, traceability, and responsibility for products placed on the market.

Key changes introduced by Law 7/2022

The law on waste and contaminated soils for a circular economy introduces changes affecting both waste prevention and its management, control, and taxation. These are some of the most relevant points to understand its practical scope.

Greater focus on prevention and separate collection

The law strengthens waste prevention and sets reduction targets by weight of 13% by 2025 and 15% by 2030 compared to 2010. In addition, it promotes the implementation of new separate collection streams, such as textiles, used cooking oils, hazardous household waste, or bulky waste, within a more preventive and structured approach.

Increased importance of extended producer responsibility

Extended producer responsibility gains prominence as a tool to transfer part of the cost and organization of waste management to those who place certain products on the market. This has a direct impact on packaging, collective systems, and financing and compliance obligations.

More environmental taxation

The regulation incorporates relevant fiscal measures, including the special tax on non-reusable plastic packaging, as well as the tax on landfill disposal, incineration, and co-incineration of waste. In other words, the law not only regulates but also uses economic instruments to drive the shift in the model.

Greater documentary and control requirements

Another important change is the strengthening of traceability and control over waste management. For many companies, this translates into the need to review internal processes, contracts, documentation, and coordination with authorized waste managers.

How Law 7/2022 affects businesses

In the business sphere, the law requires reviewing internal processes and strengthening the proper management of generated waste. Its impact is particularly evident in separation, traceability, and document management.

Waste management and separation

One of the clearest impacts for companies is the need to correctly separate waste at source, identify the streams they generate, and ensure that each receives the appropriate treatment. This affects both industrial and commercial waste and requires reviewing internal procedures, storage areas, and relationships with authorized managers.

Traceability and documentation

The law also gives greater importance to the ability to demonstrate proper management. In this context, it is increasingly important to have clear information on the origin, treatment, and destination of materials, which is linked to trends such as the traceability of recycled products and a more digital approach to circularity.

Review of internal processes

To adapt properly, many companies must review contracts, environmental documentation, waste segregation, indicators, and internal workflows. At the same time, it is advisable to analyze whether the materials, packaging, or formats used can be improved through ecodesign, since prevention is also part of compliance.

Law 7/2022 and extended producer responsibility (EPR)

One of the pillars of the new framework is extended producer responsibility (EPR). This means that those who place certain products on the market must assume, wholly or partially, responsibility for managing the waste that those products generate at the end of their useful life.

In the case of packaging, this approach has driven the creation and evolution of collective systems and organizational arrangements that enable companies to meet their obligations in a coordinated manner. An example of this evolution is IMPLICA and the SCRAP systems for commercial and industrial packaging.

Relationship between the law and packaging

Although Law 7/2022 is a regulation of general scope, its impact on packaging is particularly significant. The law reinforces prevention, producer responsibility, separate collection, and the need to improve the management of packaging waste within a more circular framework.

For this reason, for many companies it is not enough to understand the waste law alone; it is also advisable to understand how it relates to subsequent and complementary developments, such as the Royal Decree on Packaging and Packaging Waste and the PPWR, as well as new requirements on labeling and circularity.

The appropriate approach is not to view each regulation separately, but to understand that they all form part of the same transition: moving from a reactive waste management approach to a more preventive, traceable strategy that is more closely linked to design and corporate responsibility.

Tax on non-reusable plastic packaging

Among the most well-known measures associated with Law 7/2022 is the special tax on non-reusable plastic packaging, set at €0.45 per kilogram of non-recycled plastic. This fiscal instrument aims to discourage the use of certain non-reusable solutions and to encourage the incorporation of recycled material and more sustainable alternatives.

Given that this issue raises many questions among companies, it is useful to complement it with more specific content such as the plastic tax in Spain, where its scope and practical implications are explained in greater detail.

Ecodesign, prevention, and circular economy

Another important message conveyed by Law 7/2022 is that waste management does not begin when a material is discarded, but much earlier. It begins with how each product is designed, manufactured, used, and managed.

For this reason, it makes sense to link this law with content such as the role of ecodesign in waste reduction. Reducing waste does not depend solely on better recycling, but also on creating products and packaging that are better designed for reuse, separation, recyclability, and subsequent recovery.

Ultimately, the law reinforces a very clear idea: the circular economy is not just an inspiring concept, but a framework increasingly linked to obligations, design decisions, and business strategies.

This vision is also connected to trends such as the digital passport for recycled products, which points toward increasingly transparent and data-driven material management.

What companies should review now

Given this framework, the most advisable approach is to adopt a practical perspective and systematically review the aspects that may be affected by the law. Among the most useful actions are the following:

• Identify all generated waste and review whether source separation is correct.
• Verify the documentation and traceability of the management carried out.
• Analyze whether there are obligations linked to EPR or collective systems.
• Review the impact of environmental taxation on packaging and materials.
• Assess improvements in design, prevention, and circularity in products and packaging.
• Align the waste strategy with sustainability and efficiency objectives.

In this regard, the law should be understood not only as a legal obligation, but also as a driver to improve processes, reduce inefficiencies, and move toward production models more aligned with the circular economy of plastics.

Frequently asked questions

What is Law 7/2022 of April 8?
Law 7/2022 is the basic national regulation governing waste and contaminated soils from a perspective aligned with the circular economy.

Will this law still be in force in 2026?
Yes. It remains a central reference within the Spanish waste framework and is complemented by specific regulations and subsequent developments.

Who does Law 7/2022 affect?
Public administrations, producers, managers, and companies that generate waste or place certain products on the market.

What is its relationship with EPR?
The law strengthens extended producer responsibility and consolidates a model in which those who place products on the market assume greater obligations regarding their end of life.

Does it include the tax on non-reusable plastic packaging?
Yes. Among its measures, it includes the special tax on non-reusable plastic packaging, one of the most well-known aspects of the regulation.

What is its relationship with packaging?
The law acts as a general framework and is connected with more specific obligations regarding packaging, collection, prevention, and extended producer responsibility systems.

Conclusion

Law 7/2022 represents a significant change in the way waste, packaging, and corporate responsibility are understood within the circular economy. Adapting to this framework involves not only complying with regulations, but also improving source separation, traceability, prevention, and the recovery of materials.

With more than 35 years of experience in the recovery, recycling, and valorization of plastic waste, at SINTAC we know that moving toward more circular management requires experience, innovation, and adaptability. For this reason, regulations such as Law 7/2022 should not be understood solely as an obligation, but also as an opportunity to drive more efficient processes, give materials a new life, and consolidate a more responsible, sustainable, and future-oriented industrial model.