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The socially optimal recycling rate: Evidence from Japan

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  • Kinnaman, Thomas C.
  • Shinkuma, Takayoshi
  • Yamamoto, Masashi

Abstract

This paper estimates the average social cost of municipal waste management as a function of the recycling rate. Social costs include all municipal costs and revenues, costs to recycling households to prepare materials estimated with an original method, external disposal costs, and external recycling benefits. Results suggest average social costs are minimized with recycling rates well below observed and mandated levels in Japan. Cost-minimizing municipalities are estimated to recycle less than the optimal rate. These results are robust to changes in the components of social costs, indicating that Japan and perhaps other developed countries may be setting inefficiently high recycling goals.

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  • Kinnaman, Thomas C. & Shinkuma, Takayoshi & Yamamoto, Masashi, 2014. "The socially optimal recycling rate: Evidence from Japan," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 54-70.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeeman:v:68:y:2014:i:1:p:54-70
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2014.01.004
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    Cited by:

    1. Elbert Dijkgraaf & Raymond Gradus, 2017. "An EU Recycling Target: What Does the Dutch Evidence Tell Us?," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 68(3), pages 501-526, November.
    2. Elbert Dijkgraaf & Raymond Gradus, 2020. "Post-collection Separation of Plastic Waste: Better for the Environment and Lower Collection Costs?," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 77(1), pages 127-142, September.
    3. Ishimura, Yuichi, 2022. "The effects of the containers and packaging recycling law on the domestic recycling of plastic waste: Evidence from Japan," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    4. Akbulut-Yuksel, Mevlude & Boulatoff, Catherine, 2021. "The effects of a green nudge on municipal solid waste: Evidence from a clear bag policy," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    5. Yasuyuki Sugiyama & Patcharin Koonsed, 2019. "International recycling firm joint ventures and optimal recycling standards," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 21(3), pages 427-449, July.
    6. Caroline Orset & Nicolas Barret & Aurélien Lemaire, 2017. "How consumers of plastic water bottles are responding to environmental policies?," Post-Print hal-01500900, HAL.
    7. Thomas C. Kinnaman & Masashi Yamamoto, 2023. "Has Incineration Replaced Recycling? Evidence from OECD Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-12, February.
    8. Hiroaki Ino & Norimichi Matsueda, 2019. "The curse of low-valued recycling," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 55(3), pages 282-306, June.
    9. Xiaoyue Liu & Jeongsoo Yu & Kazuaki Okubo & Masahiro Sato & Toshiaki Aoki, 2021. "Case Study on the Efficiency of Recycling Companies’ Waste Paper Collection Stations in Japan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-13, October.
    10. Damiano Fiorillo & Luigi Senatore, 2020. "Pro-social behaviours, waste concern and recycling behaviour in Italy at the end of the 1990s," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 22(2), pages 127-151, April.
    11. John Baffoe-Bonnie & Fidel Ezeala-Harrison, 2023. "Analysis of Optimal Solid Waste Recycling Policy: Evidence from U.S. Using Panel Data," Advances in Management and Applied Economics, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 13(3), pages 1-2.
    12. Tatoutchoup, Francis Didier, 2016. "Optimal rate of paper recycling," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 264-269.
    13. Shteryo Nozharov, 2018. "The Institutional Economics of Collective Waste Recovery Systems: an Empirical Investigation," Economic Studies journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 5, pages 172-180.
    14. Belleflamme, Paul & Ha, Huan, 2021. "Improving recycling: How far should we go?," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2021009, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    15. Roberto Zoboli & Nicolò Barbieri & Claudia Ghisetti & Giovanni Marin & Susanna Paleari, 2019. "Towards an Innovation-Intensive Circular Economy. Integrating Research, Industry and Policies," Reports, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei, October.
    16. Swart, Julia & Groot, Loek, 2015. "Waste management alternatives: (Dis)economies of scale in recovery and decoupling," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 43-55.
    17. Valente, Marica, 2023. "Policy evaluation of waste pricing programs using heterogeneous causal effect estimation," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    18. S. Ferreira & M. Cabral & N.F. da Cruz & P. Simões & R.C. Marques, 2017. "The costs and benefits of packaging waste management systems in Europe: the perspective of local authorities," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 60(5), pages 773-791, May.
    19. Broberg, Thomas & Dijkgraaf, Elbert & Meens-Eriksson, Sef, 2022. "Burn or let them bury? The net social cost of producing district heating from imported waste," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    20. Yamamoto, Masashi & Kinnaman, Thomas C., 2022. "Is incineration repressing recycling?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    21. Endler, Malte Johannes & Wolf, André, 2019. "Plastics in life cycle perspective: Insights from the ELCA literature," HWWI Policy Papers 116, Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI).
    22. Degli Antoni, Giacomo & Vittucci Marzetti, Giuseppe, 2019. "Recycling and Waste Generation: An Estimate of the Source Reduction Effect of Recycling Programs," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 321-329.
    23. Tang, Yanyan & Zhang, Qi & Li, Yaoming & Li, Hailong & Pan, Xunzhang & Mclellan, Benjamin, 2019. "The social-economic-environmental impacts of recycling retired EV batteries under reward-penalty mechanism," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 251(C), pages 1-1.
    24. Elbert Dijkgraaf & Raymond Gradus, 2016. "Post Separation of Plastic Waste: Better for the Environment and Lower Collection Costs," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 16-103/VI, Tinbergen Institute.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Solid waste; Recycling; Environmental policy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q5 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics
    • H4 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods
    • H7 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations

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