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Behavioral spillovers from food-waste collection in Swedish municipalities

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  • Ek, Claes
  • Miliute-Plepiene, Jurate

Abstract

We estimate behavioral spillovers from environmental policy within the context of a natural experiment on food waste in Sweden. Exploiting the staggered implementation of food-waste collection across Swedish municipalities, we use a difference-in-difference design to measure the causal effect of introducing such collection on another pro-environmental behavior, namely the sorting of packaging waste. Results suggest a positive spillover effect on packaging waste which corresponds to 5–10% of the population average and rises gradually over time, possibly due to slow implementation of food-waste collection in many municipalities. These estimates are unconfounded with a number of shifts in the waste-related incentives facing households, e.g. introduction of curbside collection of packaging waste from single-family homes. Although we are unable to directly account for all such factors, indirect robustness tests provide no compelling evidence that estimated spillovers are spurious.

Suggested Citation

  • Ek, Claes & Miliute-Plepiene, Jurate, 2018. "Behavioral spillovers from food-waste collection in Swedish municipalities," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 168-186.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeeman:v:89:y:2018:i:c:p:168-186
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2018.01.004
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    Cited by:

    1. Ishimura, Yuichi, 2022. "The effects of the containers and packaging recycling law on the domestic recycling of plastic waste: Evidence from Japan," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    2. Koch, Alexander K. & Monster, Dan & Nafziger, Julia, 2023. "Nudging in Complex Environments," IZA Discussion Papers 16137, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Nafziger, Julia, 2020. "Spillover effects of nudges," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    4. Hirotaka Kumamaru & Kenji Takeuchi, 2023. "The recycled content of plastic products: estimating the impact of a recycling law on the input mix," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 25(3), pages 355-376, July.
    5. Marta Suárez-Varela & Ariel Dinar, 2020. "The Role of Curtailment Versus Efficiency on Spillovers Among Pro-Environmental Behaviors: Evidence from Two Towns in Granada, Spain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-24, January.
    6. Wang, Feiyang & Shreedhar, Ganga & Galizzi, Matteo M & Mourato, Susana, 2022. "A take-home message: workplace food waste interventions influence household pro-environmental behaviors," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 115762, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    7. Alacevich, Caterina & Bonev, Petyo & Söderberg, Magnus, 2021. "Pro-environmental interventions and behavioral spillovers: Evidence from organic waste sorting in Sweden," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    8. d'Amato, Alessio & Goeschl, Timo & Lorè, Luisa & Zoli, Mariangela, 2020. "Date Marks, Valuation, and Food Waste: Three In-Store ‘Eggsperiments’," Working Papers 0693, University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics.
    9. Wadehra, Shivani & Nie, Zihan & Alpizar, Francisco, 2024. "Disentangling the chicken or egg causality dilemma of household waste sorting and segregated waste collection: A randomized controlled trial in India," EfD Discussion Paper 24-8, Environment for Development, University of Gothenburg.
    10. Ghinoi, Stefano & Silvestri, Francesco & Steiner, Bodo, 2020. "The role of local stakeholders in disseminating knowledge for supporting the circular economy: a network analysis approach," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    11. Bonan, J. & Cattaneo, C. & d’Adda, G. & Galliera, A. & Tavoni, M., 2024. "Widening the scope: The direct and spillover effects of nudging water efficiency in the presence of other behavioral interventions," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    12. Lihini Silva & Rebecca L. C. Taylor, 2024. "If You Build It, Will They Compost? The Effects of Municipal Composting Services on Household Waste Disposal and Landfill Emissions," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 87(3), pages 761-789, March.
    13. Shu Yang & Peng Cheng & Shanyong Wang & Jun Li, 2021. "Towards Sustainable Cities: The Spillover Effects of Waste-Sorting Policies on Sustainable Consumption," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(20), pages 1-16, October.
    14. Bonev, Petyo, 2023. "Behavioral Spillovers," Economics Working Paper Series 2303, University of St. Gallen, School of Economics and Political Science.
    15. Ishimura, Yuichi & Shinkuma, Takayoshi & Takeuchi, Kenji & Hosoda, Eiji, 2024. "The effects of regional goal setting on household waste," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 215(C).
    16. De Silva, Lihini & Taylor, Rebecca, 2021. "If you build it, they will compost: The effects of municipal composting services on household waste generation," 2021 Annual Meeting, August 1-3, Austin, Texas 313874, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Environmental behavior; Recycling; Behavioral spillovers; Food waste; Packaging waste;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D04 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Policy: Formulation; Implementation; Evaluation
    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • Q53 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling

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