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Waste Hierarchy in action

A cura di: Giulia Romano

Waste Hierarchy in action

Italian and European Models for a Sustainable Future

The “waste hierarchy” principle is a pillar of European environmental policy. Despite the presence of common objectives set by the European Union, each country maintains a wide margin of autonomy in implementation, deciding how to incentivize the most effective actions (reduction, reuse, recycling) and discourage those that are less sustainable (incineration and landfill). The book is aimed at anyone who wants to understand how the circular economy can move from vision to transformative practice, offering concrete examples and a replicable model for implementing strategies capable of reconciling economic balance, environmental sustainability, and social equity.

Pagine: 282

ISBN: 9788835183266

Edizione:1a edizione 2025

Codice editore: 11820.44

Informazioni sugli open access

The “waste hierarchy” principle is a pillar of European environmental policy. Despite the presence of common objectives set by the European Union, each country maintains a wide margin of autonomy in implementation, deciding how to incentivize the most effective actions (reduction, reuse, recycling) and discourage those that are less sustainable (incineration and landfill). This causes considerable heterogeneity, both in the strategies adopted and in the results obtained: some countries have achieved significant milestones, while others still show significant room for improvement.
Intervening with targeted and ambitious policies is increasingly urgent. Through the analysis of six emblematic cases, the volume identifies the necessary conditions to make the waste hierarchy principle a reality. Strong determination from political or corporate leadership, the involvement of authoritative and passionate experts, stakeholder engagement, the availability of adequate resources, and project flexibility emerge as decisive enabling factors to overcome bottlenecks and the many regulatory, cultural, and industrial resistances.
From the cross-sectional reading of the cases, it emerges that there is no ideal context or single model for scaling the waste hierarchy, just as no single “best practice” can be identified, but rather a plurality of good practices that can be combined synergistically.
The book is aimed at anyone who wants to understand how the circular economy can move from vision to transformative practice: public decision-makers, managers, scholars, and citizens engaged in ecological transition, offering concrete examples and a replicable model for implementing strategies capable of reconciling economic balance, environmental sustainability, and social equity. A work that not only describes good practices, but wants to make them systematic and scalable, helping to overcome the many “walls of no” and instilling positive replication effects.

Giulia Romano is an Associate Professor of Business Administration at the University of Pisa, where she teaches Business Administration, Corporate Governance, and Public Service Management. She is the author of numerous publications of national and international relevance on the topics of public services, corporate governance, sustainability, and business performance, and coordinates the University of Pisa research unit for the nationally signifi cant research project (PRIN) Climbing the Waste Hierarchy: enabling factors and policies, CLIWEP, CUP N.I53D23002730006.

Foreword

Introduction

Part I. The waste hierarchy between theory, regulations, and compliance in different European Countries

Strengths and approaches on the waste hierarchy: the evolution of the international literature

From waste to resource: legal foundations, governance models and critical issues for the circular economy

  • From a waste-oriented to a resource-oriented policy and regulatory framework
  • The transposition of the waste hierarchy into the national regulatory framework
  • Legal models of waste governance
  • The principle of proximity
  • The need for planning in waste management: food for thought from a non-virtuous case
  • Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and CONAI

Compliance with the waste hierarchy in the European Union: a comparative assessment

  • Introduction
  • The Waste Hierarchy in the context of the European Union and a brief review of the literature
  • Evaluation of municipal waste management in EU countries: methodology and empirical analysis
  • Discussion of results and implications for EU policies
  • Conclusions

Part II. Strategies and experiences for waste hierarchy: emblematic Italian and European cases

Research methodology and data collection

Waste reduction in a complex urban setting: the city of Paris and the 2024 Olympic Games

  • Waste management in France and the origins of the Ambition zéro plastique à usage unique strategy
  • The development of the Ambition zéro plastique à usage unique project
  • Widespread training on the project “Ambition zéro plastique à usage unique”
  • Negotiation with partners of the Olympic Games and major sporting events
  • The environmental, social and economic results of the Paris sans Plastique project

The Reuse and Contamination of good practices, from Sweden to Tuscany: From Alelyckan in Gothenburg, to ReTuna and Daccapo

  • The Alelyckan Reuse Center in Gothenburg
  • The contaminations of the Gothenburg experience: ReTuna in Eskilstuna
  • The contaminations of the experience of Gothenburg: Daccapo in Capannori, Tuscany

Pay-as-you-throw tariff and stakeholder engagement to increase separate waste collection: the Ecoambiente Rovigo case

  • The history of Ecoambiente and the stages of its development
  • The Business Model
  • Ownership structure and corporate governance
  • Managerial team and managerialization
  • Ecoambiente’s stakeholders
  • Communication and stakeholder engagement to implement change and Pay-as-you-throw tariff
  • Economic, environmental, and social performance

Effective recycling through research and development and integrated supply chains: the Revet case

  • The history of Revet and the stages of its development
  • The Business Model
  • Ownership structure and corporate governance
  • Revet stakeholders and recycling supply chains
  • Economic, environmental and social performance

Sustainable waste management models: geographical-comparative analysis of six European realities

  • Geography and territorial contexts of the case studies
  • The City of Light
  • Gothenburg and Eskilstuna
  • Capannori and “La Piana”
  • Rovigo and its territory
  • Pontedera and the lower Valdarno
  • Comparing territorial realities: a brief summary of the trajectories towards circularity

The enabling factors and bottlenecks of the circular economy: overcoming the “walls of no” to climb the waste hierarchy

  • The results of the cross-sectional case analysis: enablers and bottlenecks to make the circular economy not just a vision, but a transformative practice
  • Enabling factors strategies and policies capable of climbing the waste hierarchy
  • Circular economy bottlenecks holding back the implementation of the waste hierarchy principle
  • Concluding remarks

Postscript

References

The Authors

Policy Brief

Collana: Università: economia - Open Access

Argomenti: Economia, economia aziendale

Contenuti dell'allegato

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Scarica i Policy Brief

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