The Relationship Between Municipal Solid Waste and Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Evidence From Switzerland

Waste Management, 113, 508-520, 2020, DOI: 10.1016/j.wasman.2020.05.033, ISSN: 0956-053X

Posted: 18 Feb 2021

See all articles by Cosimo Magazzino

Cosimo Magazzino

University of Rome III; Royal Economic Society; Italian Economic Association

Marco Mele

Luspio University - School of Political Sciences

Nicolas Schneider

Centre d'Économie de la Sorbonne (CES) - Center of Economics of the Sorbonne (CES); University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne, Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne (CES), Students

Date Written: 2020

Abstract

Municipal solid waste generation is becoming a prominent issue in the environmental arena. The aim of this paper is to investigate the relationship among municipal waste generation, greenhouse gas emissions, and GDP in Switzerland over the period 1990–2017. We apply both time series procedures (stationarity and causality tests) and a Machine Learning approach. Empirical findings underline a bidirectional causal relationship between municipal solid waste generation and GDP, indicating that the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis holds for Switzerland. Moreover, we found that waste recovery (recycling and composting) is a key driver in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, in the Tree Model, the probability that a change in the waste recovery variable could lead to a reduction in the greenhouse gas emissions registered a value of 87%.

Keywords: Municipal solid waste; Greenhouse gas; Waste sector; Recycling; Environmental sustainability; Machine Learning

JEL Classification: C22; C39; Q50;Q53

Suggested Citation

Magazzino, Cosimo and Mele, Marco and Schneider, Nicolas, The Relationship Between Municipal Solid Waste and Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Evidence From Switzerland (2020). Waste Management, 113, 508-520, 2020, DOI: 10.1016/j.wasman.2020.05.033, ISSN: 0956-053X, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3745069

Cosimo Magazzino (Contact Author)

University of Rome III ( email )

Via Ostiense 139
Rome, RM 00154
Italy

HOME PAGE: http://scienzepolitiche.uniroma3.it/cmagazzino/

Royal Economic Society ( email )

London
United Kingdom

Italian Economic Association ( email )

Piazzale Martelli, 8
Ancona, AN 60121
Italy

HOME PAGE: http://www.siecon.org/online/en/

Marco Mele

Luspio University - School of Political Sciences ( email )

Rome
Italy

Nicolas Schneider

Centre d'Économie de la Sorbonne (CES) - Center of Economics of the Sorbonne (CES) ( email )

106-112 bd de l'Hôpital
Paris, 75642
France

University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne, Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne (CES), Students ( email )

106-112 Boulevard de l'hopital
Paris Cedex 13
France

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