Ekonomiska styrmedel för förpackningsavfall : En studie om vad som påverkar återvinningen i EU

In 1994 the EU directive of packaging waste was adopted. The result was that all EU member states developed different systems to manage packaging waste and recycling. This paper examines the various systems and the factors that affect the level of recycling. This is done by a cross-sectional study between countries. The results of my study suggest that take-back system generates less recycling than other systems, the mandatory deposit system can affect the recycling in a positive way. The recycling might be higher in a full cost system where the producers account for 100 percent of the funding. High national targets may provide higher recycling. Other factors such as high GDP per capita, older systems and high population density seems to have a positive effect on the recycling of glass, but no significant effect on the recycling of plastics. A positive correlation between fees and recycling were found, but the results are not completely reliable because of the data used for fees is very uncertain. I suspect that there are other variables not investigated that influence recycling. Because of that it is difficult to establish a general model that explains the level of recycling in a country. This makes it difficult for an authority to decide what instruments to use to increase recycling.