1st Edition

Waste and Recycling Theory and Empirics

By Takayoshi Shinkuma, Shunsuke Managi Copyright 2011
    162 Pages
    by Routledge

    162 Pages 23 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    As "business as usual" has become the mantra of today's world, it's unlikely to see a decrease in hazardous waste generated from greater economic growth. Written by renowned experts, the book suggests a solution, supported by theoretical arguments to this waste problem. The book discusses how main problems for waste management can be addressed through appropriate policies adopted by governments in OECD countries.

    The book also raises thoughtful questions on how household waste management services should be privatized and who should pay for the disposal and recycling costs. It attempts to answer these questions. The book considers several factors hindering the first-best optimal outcome and highlights two crucial ones. It elaborates further with models and the solutions on how to overcome these obstacles.

    The book covers not only traditional resource economics and waste management, but also the recent problem of Electric waste (E-waste) and illustrates in details, how the environments of developing countries are inevitably polluted even with the Basel ban Amendment in place. The book proposes an alternative international trading regulation to address E-waste. This book will certainly appeal to industry decision-makers, policy makers and legislators. 

     

     

     

     

    @contents: 1. Introduction  2. The Industrial Waste Market  3. Creating the Market for Household Waste and Extended Producer Responsibility  4. First-best Economy: Comparisons between a Disposal Fee Policy and EPR-based Policies  5. The Second-best Policy for Recycling Household Waste  6. The Durability of Goods and the Right Recycling Policy for Household Waste  7. International Trade of Waste and Environmental Pollution  8. The Effects of Introducing EPR Policies in Developed Countries on International Trade, the Environment, and Social Welfare  9. The Effectiveness of the Basel Convention  10. The Policies Adopted in China and India and the International Trade Policy  11. Conclusions

    Biography

    Takayoshi Shinkuma has been with the faculty of economics of Kansai University since 2008. He taught at Gifu Shotoku Gakuen University and Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. He holds a Ph.D. in human and environmental studies from Kyoto University. Professor Shinkuma researches on environmental economics, specifically in waste managment and recycling.

    Shunsuke Managi is Professor of Technology and Policy, School of Engineering at Kyushu University, Japan, while also holding position as IGES fellow at Institute for Global Environmental Strategies and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Tokyo. He is an editor of Environmental Economic and Policy Studies, a lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and is the author of "Technology, Natural Resources and Economic Growth: Improving the Environment for a Greener Future" and editor of "The Routledge Handbook of Environmental Economics in Asia".


     

     

    The book offers very interesting insights by placing the economics of waste issues on a sound policy level setting. The authors bring together mainstream and heterodox thinking to enrich research in the field. The overlooked technological domain is nicely touched upon, given its striking relevance to achieve the challenge of moving beyond recycling towards waste reduction at source. The book is of value to students, practitioners and researchers in the field.’— Massimiliano Mazzanti, Associate Professor of Economics, University of Ferrara