Assessing the relation between waste management policies and circular economy goals.

The European Union has recently prioritized waste policies by embedding them in the new Horizon Europe work programme. Here, circular economy (CE) and digitalization are matching together in order to support all the industrial sectors in increasing their sustainability level. One of the main impacts expected from the EU is a better exploitation of wasted resources. However, waste streams are very different in terms of volumes, embedded materials and management policies. Considering only those waste streams with highest volumes, this study focuses on End-of-Life Vehicle (ELV), Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) and Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE). Starting from some policy recommendations and analyses identified through a literature review and the support of the experts, a survey has been conducted to identify the most critical items for each waste stream. Results of the survey show that, on the one hand, end of waste strategies has the highest importance for WEEE and ELV categories. On the other hand, social change has the highest importance for MSW. Consequently, end of waste strategies and social change should be considered as enablers of reuse and recycling practices in their reference contexts. In order to counteract the significant socio-economic issues already caused by delays in taking clear decisions about climate change mitigation strategies, policymakers should focus on these policy implications urgently if even more imminent environmental catastrophes are to be avoided.

Municipal Solid Waste generation dynamics. Breaks and thresholds analysis in the Italian context.

Municipal solid waste prevention represents a topical point in circular economy policies within the European Union. It is therefore paramount to assess its state of decoupling from economic activity. There is weak evidence from empirical research that Italy managed to achieve this structural change locally. Decoupling is not arising homogenously in the waste generation-income relationship in Italy over the last two decades. The heterogeneity in economic performances and waste policies could be an explanation. However, it is possible to find common patterns between decoupler against non-decoupler provinces. This paper involves panel data of 103 provinces during eighteen years (2001-2018) of Italian Provinces (NUTS3) to assess the drivers of structural changes in the income-waste relation. The innovation consists of the use of a threshold model to assess the minimal requirements of socio-economic performances to decouple economic activity to non-separated waste. The threshold point differs from the tipping point as it is always observable in the panel. Previous studies mostly estimated the latter involving panel data analysis. This often resulted in fallacious interpretation, especially due to spurious regressions. The observability is a relevant criterion, as several provinces have achieved the decoupling state. Results indicate that economic activity and tourist are relevant threshold variables in waste prevention. Both are sources of local financing; thus, it is probable that circular practices are dependent on the volume of potential expenditure rather than structural characteristics such as population density.

The biogas dilemma: An analysis on the social approval of large new plants.

The degree of social acceptance of biogas as a renewable green energy source is still somewhat disregarded. Although many initiatives have focused on the construction of new biogas plants around the world, local protests on the construction of new plants often arise. This study aims to analyse the determinants of citizens' perceptions regarding the construction of new biomass plants in their neighbouring areas. In particular, the focus is on prior knowledge of the production process of biogas as well as on other individual characteristics. The investigation is based on two repeated surveys conducted among the population living in two Italian areas where the construction of new large biogas plants were planned (the provinces of Oristano and Andria). The first survey analyses the main variables correlated with the degree of biogas acceptability particularly the biogas knowledge. The second survey (differentiated in two waves) focuses on the role of participatory processes and information campaigns undertaken by policy makers and environmental associations to increase the social acceptance of communities regarding the construction of new biogas plants.

Data for the analysis of willingness to pay for Italian beaches.

The data presented herein relates to the article entitled "Willingness to pay for management and preservation of natural, semi-urban and urban beaches in Italy" [1]. Data of several Italian beaches are collected considering shape, anthropogenic characteristics, use, activity and urbanization levels. Descriptive statistics of beach characteristics and beach users are presented, on the basis of about 5000 interviews.

How does green technology influence CO2 emission in China?--An empirical research based on provincial data of China.

This paper investigates the role of green innovations aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions as a factor that compensates for growth and population effects. It has been shown from tests that the positive effect of green innovations on carbon emissions exists within a STIRPAT framework from a local perspective. The panel data is derived from China Statistical Yearbook and China Intellectual Property Office covered from 1999 to 2013. In addition,the static panel model was run to estimate the diversity among three typical regions of China. The main result shows that the green technology change has not played a dominant role yet in promoting environmental protection, while a scale effect (Affluence and Population)still prevails, although green patents show positive influences on the CO2 emission reduction inthe whole country as well as the East and West regions, except the Central region. Moreover, it turns out that the classical EKC hypothesis does stand in China, referring to the three regions with the inverted "U" shape. The analysis gives suggestions to the policy makers, which would support enlarging the investment scale on green patents and encourage international corporation with environmental related innovations.