Analysis of the Key Variables That Affect the Generation of Municipal Solid Waste in the Balearics Islands (2000–2014)

Abstract

An econometric model based on official data from the Balearic Regional Government is presented. The main objective is to determine, through a multivariate regression analysis, the most significant variables that directly affect the generation of municipal solid waste (MSW) in the study area. A set of environmental and socioeconomic data has been obtained for the period 2000 to 2014, and panel data have been selected to generate and develop the model. Furthermore, the previous scientific literature on MSW management and generation, as well as econometric models, on MSW management are analyzed. As a result, six key variables that have a significant influence on the generation of municipal waste in the Balearic archipelago have been identified. Of these, five have a direct influence, with the resident population and the tourist population having the greatest influence, while the level of education has an inverse influence. The obtained linear model does not present autocorrelation or heteroscedasticity although a slight multicollinearity is omitted since the model’s explanatory capacity reaches 99.8%. Finally, the conclusions obtained are presented and the coefficients associated with the model are interpreted.