Economics of waste management and disposal: decoupling, policy enforcement and spatial factors

Abstract

Waste production is increasing steadily over time in developed as well as in developing countries. The growth is still more or less proportional to that of GDP for most countries and regions. The evidence also suggests that a significant amount of waste is produced each year in OECD countries (over 4 billion tonnes). In the EU, waste-related Directives, such as 2008/98/CE, now call for waste reduction as the most preferred option to tackle this problem, while in the past attention was mainly focused on recycling, recovery and disposal targets. Also, as suggested by the European Commission, economic growth and globalization are boosting waste movements across borders, involving potentially hazardous wastes. National and international institutions are reacting with mixed effectiveness to these issues, while the theoretical and empirical literature has developed substantially in recent years. Theoretical analyses have, for example, suggested designs of optimal policy packages in first and second best situations, holding attention to non-competitive