The Link between e-Waste and GDP—New Insights from Data from the Pan-European Region

Sigrid Kusch and Colin D. Hills
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Sigrid Kusch: Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, University of Padua, Padua 35131, Italy
Colin D. Hills: Faculty of Engineering Science, University of Greenwich, Chatham Maritime ME4 4TB, UK

Resources, 2017, vol. 6, issue 2, 1-10

Abstract: Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is difficult to sustainably manage. One key issue is the challenge of planning for WEEE flows as current and future quantities of waste are difficult to predict. To address this, WEEE generation and gross domestic product (GDP) data from 50 countries of the pan-European region were assessed. A high economic elasticity was identified, indicating that WEEE and GDP are closely interlinked. More detailed analyses revealed that GDP at purchasing power parity (GDP PPP) is a more meaningful measure when looking at WEEE flows, as a linear dependency between WEEE generation and GDP PPP was identified. This dependency applies to the whole region, regardless of the economic developmental stage of individual countries. In the pan-European region, an increase of 1000 international $ GDP PPP means an additional 0.5 kg WEEE is generated that requires management.

Keywords: WEEE; electrical and electronic waste; estimation of WEEE flows; gross domestic product; GDP at purchasing power parity; economic elasticity; decoupling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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