What Causes Waste Flows? An Interregional Analysis of Welsh Waste Shipments

Much of the waste flow literature focuses on international waste trade and oftentimes solely on trade in hazardous wastes. However, data is often available for waste flows within national borders and these flows could yield just as much information on the relationships that exist between origins and destinations. In a world where waste creation, transport, and disposal is becoming a global problem, understanding and modeling these flows is becoming increasingly important. This paper uses a gravity model approach and data on commercial waste shipments between local authorities within Wales to examine the characteristics that are responsible for origin-destination waste flow relationships. We focus on economic characteristics, as well as socioeconomic and demographic characteristics that may play a role in interregional Welsh waste trade.