Policies to promote the waste management hierarchy : with special attention to the paper cycle in Europe

The main objective of this study was to review policy instruments available to promote aspects of the waste management hierarchy. The motivation of this review is embedded in two questions: (1) What policy instruments are most effective in promoting the waste hierarchy? and, (2) Should EU policies in the European paper cycle be harmonised? With respect to the first question, the most effective policy instrument to promote the waste hierarchy for the European paper cycle, it is concluded that none of the policy categories is sufficient to ‘do the job’ alone. Firstly, it is important to note that most of the policies reviewed in this study impact on only a small part of the waste hierarchy and so a range of policies are required to promote the full hierarchy. Secondly, it is recognised that an appropriate balance needs to be struck between regulatory, economic and communicative instruments. Regarding the second question, harmonisation of EU policies, it is concluded that for the most part, it is better to have country-specific policy strategies, while for some part EU wide policies are more appropriate