Iceland accepts Appropriate Measures to Remove Existing State Aid to waste management company Sorpa
Iceland has committed to eliminate the existing state aid granted to Sorpa, a waste-management company exempt from paying income tax due to its status as a municipal cooperative.
Iceland has formally accepted the measures proposed by ESA and confirmed that they will be fully implemented by 1 January 2027. To comply with the state aid rules, ESA required (i) that Sorpa’s activities on the markets for waste management be incorporated into a limited liability company subject to income tax, (ii) a market price is paid for the disposing of non-domestic waste at recycling stations and for the waste transfer and (iii) market terms apply to the utilisation of real estate and equipment related to the operations of the economic activities.
This acceptance makes the appropriate measures legally binding, meaning that any aid granted in breach of these measures will be considered new and incompatible state aid subject to recovery from the date of implementation onwards.
For more information, see ESA’s PR.