Is Recycling Effective? Evidence from California between 2004 and 2017

33 Pages Posted: 7 Aug 2018 Last revised: 18 Feb 2020

See all articles by Christos Makridis

Christos Makridis

Stanford University; Institute for the Future (IFF), Department of Digital Innovation, School of Business, University of Nicosia; Arizona State University (ASU); Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)

Date Written: July 18, 2018

Abstract

Recycling has been touted as a cost-effective mechanism for improving environmental quality and raising employment. Using county-level data from California between 2004 and 2017, this paper exploits plausibly exogenous changes in the exposure of households' to hazardous waste recycling to identify the effects on potential environmental and economic outcomes. While a 10% rise in recycling per household is associated with a 0.28% and 0.94% improvement in air quality and decline in the number of unhealthy days in a year, recycling is associated with a rise in net energy generation and fuel consumption and no association with economic activity. Even though the potential environmental effects may be small, there is some evidence that households in zipcodes with higher housing values and population density value reductions in hazardous waste.

Keywords: Recycling and Conservation, Tiebout Sorting, Energy Consumption, Environmental Quality, Public Policy

JEL Classification: Q53, Q58, H41

Suggested Citation

Makridis, Christos, Is Recycling Effective? Evidence from California between 2004 and 2017 (July 18, 2018). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3216260 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3216260

Christos Makridis (Contact Author)

Stanford University ( email )

Stanford, CA 94305
United States

Institute for the Future (IFF), Department of Digital Innovation, School of Business, University of Nicosia ( email )

Nicosia, 2417
Cyprus

Arizona State University (ASU) ( email )

Farmer Building 440G PO Box 872011
Tempe, AZ 85287
United States

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) ( email )

810 Vermont Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20420
United States

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