Economic efficiency issues with respect to recycling behaviour and waste management policy

Like motherhood and apple pie, recycling is often thought of as an unquestionable 'good'. However, the economic, management and environmental issues involved are complex; there are numerous factors that need to be considered if recycling is to be efficient. The purpose of this paper is to analyse a number of economic efficiency issues with respect to recycling behaviour and waste management policy in a non-technical fashion aimed at an interdisciplinary audience. Among the main findings is that the degree of policy flexibility in affecting recovery and utilisation rates is limited, so additional policy targets are desirable.