Antonio Garofalo

Separate waste collection in Italy: the role of socio-cultural factors and targets set by law

Abstract The aim of this paper was twofold: on the one hand, we analyse the results achieved in terms of percentages of separate collection in Italy by testing the effectiveness of Legislative Decree 152/2006 in improving the separate collection process; and on the other hand, we investigate on some of the factors, related to the sociocultural local context, that could explain the different impacts of the law in the three macro-areas considered (North, Central and South Italy). To this purpose, an econometric analysis on the Italian regions for the 1996–2013 period is performed, comparing the period before (1996–2006) and after (2006–2013) the date of entry into force of the new law. The results show the effectiveness of Legislative Decree 152/2006 in promoting separate collection, although a regional difference in terms of separate collection rate is observed. Northern regions proved to be more dynamic and reactive to the above-mentioned legislation, while Central and especially Southern regions achieved poorer results in moving to higher separate waste collection rates. Finally, our work provides evidence on some local factors that may have hampered an effective policy implementation in Southern regions, among them, the presence of criminal activities and the lack of citizen participation in politics.

Institutional quality effects on separate waste collection: some evidence from Italian provinces

Separate waste collection in Italy comes under the responsibility of local authorities, provinces, while national laws set quantitative targets to be achieved over time. Overall, just a few provinces have reached the thresholds set by the latest law (Legislative Decree 152/2006) and some territorial differentiation has been detected. The aim of this paper is twofold: to verify the effectiveness of Legislative Decree 152/2006 in promoting higher levels of separate collection and to test whether institutional quality (considering the following indicators: voice and accountability, regulatory quality, rule of law and corruption) affects provinces’ efficiency in the separate collection process. For this purpose, we implement the stochastic frontier analysis (SFA). Results suggest that the effectiveness of Legislative Decree 152/2006 has been affected by provinces’ institutional quality. In particular, the presence of institutional constraints did not allow the most virtuous provinces to achieve the targets set by law.

Estimating food waste under the FUSIONS definition: What are the driving factors of food waste in the Italian provinces?

Following the definition provided by the EU-funded FUSIONS project (food use for social innovation by optimising waste prevention strategies), this work estimates food waste at the provincial level (NUTS-3) in Italy, using official records on separate waste collection over the 2004–2014 time span. Moreover, it sheds some light on how economic and socio-demographic characteristics affect food waste levels and composition. We run a fixed effects panel regression taking into account a number of socio-economic factors. Our results show that food waste is positively affected by population density and consumption levels, while it is negatively affected by the share of women, elderly people, immigrants and unemployed in the population. We also analyse the components of food waste—the one resulting from unsorted waste and the one resulting from separated collection—and we show how they are affected by socio-economic drivers. Overall, our analysis highlights the role of consumption levels. Locally targeted awareness campaigns aiming to reduce food consumption need to be devised in order to tackle the food waste challenge.

Investigating the driving factors of the landfill disposal rate: a quantile regression for Italian data

Despite the recommendation of the EU environmental policies, the Italian waste management system still needs of further assessment processes. Until recently, some areas, especially in the South, have experienced serious waste management crises, mainly due to low rates of separate waste collection. This paper aims to investigate the driving factors of the landfill disposal rate. This may allow to suggest some policy recipes in order to reduce the percentage of waste disposed of at landfills and, consequently, to promote healthy environment and the citizens’ health. Therefore, we propose a cluster analysis and a quantile regression technique to evaluate the magnitude of the socioeconomic and institutional factors on the landfill disposal rate. Results show that the separate collection process plays a key role to effectively reduce the waste disposed of in landfills. In this context, enhancing prevention, re-use, recycling and recovery activities becomes necessary.

Unemployment, innovation and R&D: introduction

Purpose - This paper aims to introduce the contributions in this special issue on “Unemployment, innovation and R&D”, and provide a brief outline of the international conference organised by the Applied Econometrics Association on “Policies against Unemployment”. Design/methodology/approach - The paper is descriptive in nature. Findings - The papers presented in this special issue shed some light on the key determinants of unemployment levels, and help to identify policies that can tackle unemployment successfully. Originality/value - Some radically different approaches to the issue of tackling unemployment are presented. The special issue, of which this paper is a part, provides further new evidence on the impact of innovation and R&D on employment/unemployment and unemployment persistence.