Compliance with the EU waste hierarchy: A matter of stringency, enforcement, and time

The aim of this paper is to assess whether and what extent income the stringency enforcement (S&E) environmental regulation influence compliance with EU Waste Hierarchy (EWH), i.e., how member states treat waste. EWH prioritizes waste prevention re-use over recycling, which ranked above energy (WtE), while incineration landfilling are least preferred options. Biennial panel data for period 2010–2016 used create a index based on treatment alternatives in EWH. (excluding major mineral waste) 26 European Union countries examined. This study first its kind regress an income, regulation, other variables that also expected affect relative benefits costs treatment, such as population density, heating demand, electricity prices. shares landfilling, incineration, WtE, recycling modeled capture effect these mix. found have positive EWH, has increased time.