Law 15/2003, amending Law 6/1993, of 15th July, regulating waste defines in Article 1 section 3, the concept of commercial waste and establishes specific regulations in Article 23.

The owner of the business has to provide the waste generated or in their possession to an authorised manager for recovery, if possible, or final waste disposal, or else the owner must make use of the collection and management system of the competent local authority which has been established for this type of waste, including the collection centre service.

In all cases, the owner of the business which generates commercial waste must provide the waste in suitable conditions for the separation of materials and pay the management costs for the waste that they possess or generate.

The same applies to industrial waste similar to municipal waste.

Under Law 15/2003 the collection and treatment of commercial waste became a service no longer provided exclusively by municipal councils. The service is deregulated, although some local councils have declared it part of their municipal preserve, supported by the authority attributed by the Spanish Law 7/1985, of 2nd April, regulating the local government system.

In the context where a service can be provided either by the municipality or by private firms, it may be best to opt for pay-as-you-throw systems, enabling each business to be identified and charged according to the amount and type of waste generated, as well as creating incentives to prevent and recycle waste.

The PROGREMIC, currently under revision, classifies municipal waste into domestic and commercial. This classification enables the establishment of specific objectives for commercial waste and the achievement of a higher overall quota of recycling of municipal waste.

The objectives of the PROGREMIC with respect to commercial waste are as follows:

• To introduce door-to-door collection in all areas with high commercial activity, including the provision of special reduced-capacity containers to businesses for the selective collection of certain materials.
• To promote action on the part of local authorities to pass bylaws aimed at putting an end to the problem caused by the incorrect management of commercial packaging waste, paper and cardboard, as well as organic waste.
• To promote action to minimise and prevent commercial waste.
• To incorporate commercial waste into a process of selective collection adapted to its needs and enables active participation, and to reach a level of collection at the end of 2006 equivalent to 15% of all waste generated.