Umeå School of Business, Economics and Statistics (USBE), Department of Economics, Centre for Environmental and Resource Economics (CERE), Umeå University, Sweden.
J Environ Manage. 2021 Feb 15;280:111672. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.111672. Epub 2020 Dec 9.
The aim of this paper is to assess whether and to what extent income and the stringency and enforcement (S&E) of environmental regulation influence compliance with the EU Waste Hierarchy (EWH), i.e., how EU member states treat waste. The EWH prioritizes waste prevention and re-use over recycling, which is ranked above waste to energy (WtE), while incineration and landfilling are the least preferred options. Biennial panel data for the period 2010-2016 is used to create a compliance index based on the waste treatment alternatives in the EWH. Waste (excluding major mineral waste) of 26 European Union countries is examined. This study is the first of its kind to regress an EWH compliance index on income, stringency and enforcement of environmental regulation, and other variables that are also expected to affect the relative benefits and costs of waste treatment, such as population density, heating demand, and electricity prices. The shares of landfilling, incineration, WtE, and recycling are also modeled to capture the effect of these variables in the waste treatment mix. The stringency and enforcement of environmental regulation are found to have a positive effect on compliance with the EWH, which has increased over time.
本文旨在评估收入以及环境法规的严格程度和执行力度（S&E）是否以及在何种程度上影响了对欧盟废物层级（EWH）的遵守情况，即欧盟成员国如何对待废物。EWH 优先考虑废物预防和再利用，而不是回收，而回收又优先于能源回收（WtE），而焚烧和填埋则是最不受欢迎的选择。本文使用 2010-2016 年的两年期面板数据，根据 EWH 中的废物处理替代方案创建了一个合规指数。研究了 26 个欧盟国家的废物（不包括主要矿物废物）。这是首次将 EWH 合规指数回归到收入、环境法规的严格程度和执行力度以及其他预计也会影响废物处理相对收益和成本的变量上，如人口密度、供暖需求和电价。还对填埋、焚烧、WtE 和回收的比例进行了建模，以捕捉这些变量对废物处理组合的影响。研究发现，环境法规的严格程度和执行力度对 EWH 的遵守情况产生了积极影响，而且这种影响随着时间的推移而增加。
