Economic Analysis of Waste Management Systems in Europe

Abstract

The paper sketches the main regulatory economic issues characterizing waste management policies in the EU context. On the background, the evolution of solid waste management (SWM) policies, that has increasingly shifted the attention from end-of-pipe management (waste collection and disposal) to prevention and value-chain management. Economic issues regard in particular the evaluation of waste management options; “market failures” in the WM industry and the dimensions of general interest that require public regulation; the industrial organization of WM services and patterns of private sector involvement; the use of economic instruments and market mechanisms for achieving WM targets. These issues are rapidly presented in their theoretical implications and later discussed on the basis of the experience in EU countries.