This paper provides a broad overview of recent trends in solid waste and recycling, related public policy issues, and … the economics literature devoted to these topics. Public attention to solid waste and recycling has increased dramatically … makers choose the efficient mix of policy levers to regulate solid waste and recycling activities. Economists have also …

battery recycling to Mexico and on infant health in Mexico. In the U.S., airborne lead dropped sharply near affected plants …, most of which were battery-recycling plants. Exports of used batteries to Mexico rose markedly. In Mexico, production … increased at battery-recycling plants, relative to comparable industries, and birth outcomes deteriorated within two miles of …

Economic theory predicts that individual recycling behavior gravitates toward extremes--either diligent recycling or no … recycling at all. Using a nationally representative sample of 3,158 bottled water users, this article finds that this prediction … is borne out for consumer recycling of plastic water bottles. Both water bottle deposits and recycling laws foster …

This paper estimates the impact of a user fee and a curbside recycling program on garbage and recycling amounts … policies and the levels of garbage and recycling collected in the community. A simple sequential model of local policymaking is … cross-section of towns without user fees but with and without curbside recycling programs. The combined data set is larger …

This paper develops a utility maximizing model of household choice among garbage disposal, recycling, and littering … recycling. The model explains (1) why some households participate in curbside recycling programs even in the absence of a user …-wide quantities of garbage, recycling, and litter. We show how an increase in the user fee can decrease aggregate recycling …

We summarize the economics of recycling municipal solid waste. OECD data suggest that aggregate recycling rates in … member countries have plateaued in recent decades. United States recycling rates for some materials remain low, even after … decades of learning and participation. Major new policies may be required to increase recycling rates. Aggregate recycling …