IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/urb/wpaper/22_02.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

An optimal strategy to control mining and recycling of non-renewable resources

Author

Listed:
  • Silvia Bertarelli

    (Department of Economics and Management, Università di Ferrara)

  • Chiara Lodi

    (Department of Economics, Society & Politics, Università di Urbino Carlo Bo)

  • Stefania Ragni

    (Department of Economics and Management, Università di Ferrara)

Abstract

The current debate on non-renewable resources has been increasingly recognizing their critical role over time, since natural reserves are dramatically decreasing. We aim at studying non-renewable resource management when extraction from natural reserves and recycling are considered, as well as the impact of technological progress on consumption and welfare in the short-run term. Mathematical modelling may provide significant help to policymakers in devising suitable strategies for social welfare optimization and environmental conservation. In this direction, we introduce an optimal control model for allocating labor between mining and recycling over a finite time horizon; specifically, we aim at optimally manage virgin resource depletion and waste accumulation. Actually, a suitable scrap value function is involved in the optimization process, in order to account for the issue of reducing waste accumulation and preserving natural stock in the forthcoming future. We analyze the problem and provide the necessary optimality conditions.

Suggested Citation

  • Silvia Bertarelli & Chiara Lodi & Stefania Ragni, 2022. "An optimal strategy to control mining and recycling of non-renewable resources," Working Papers 2202, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Department of Economics, Society & Politics - Scientific Committee - L. Stefanini & G. Travaglini, revised 2022.
    • Handle: RePEc:urb:wpaper:22_02
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.econ.uniurb.it/RePEc/urb/wpaper/WP_22_02.pdf
    File Function: First version, 2022
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Huhtala, Anni, 1999. "Optimizing production technology choices: conventional production vs. recycling," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 1-18, January.
    2. Jannett Highfill & Michael McAsey, 2001. "Landfilling Versus ``Backstop'' Recycling When Income Is Growing," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 19(1), pages 37-52, May.
    3. Weber, Thomas A., 2011. "Optimal Control Theory with Applications in Economics," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262015730, April.
    4. Léonard,Daniel & Long,Ngo van, 1992. "Optimal Control Theory and Static Optimization in Economics," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521331586, September.
    5. Halkos, George & Papageorgiou, George, 2015. "Dynamical methods in Environmental and Resource Economics," MPRA Paper 67845, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Lafforgue, Gilles & Rouge, Luc, 2019. "A dynamic model of recycling with endogenous technological breakthrough," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 101-118.
    7. Highfill, Jannett & McAsey, Michael, 1997. "Municipal Waste Management: Recycling and Landfill Space Constraints," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 118-136, January.
    8. Sweeney, James L., 1993. "Economic theory of depletable resources: An introduction," Handbook of Natural Resource and Energy Economics, in: A. V. Kneese† & J. L. Sweeney (ed.), Handbook of Natural Resource and Energy Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 17, pages 759-854, Elsevier.
    9. Harold Hotelling, 1931. "The Economics of Exhaustible Resources," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 39(2), pages 137-137.
    10. Anni Huhtala, 1997. "A Post-Consumer Waste Management Model for Determining Optimal Levels of Recycling and Landfilling," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 10(3), pages 301-314, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Francisco J. André & Emilio Cerdá, 2001. "A Generalized Production Set. The Production and Recycling Function," Economic Working Papers at Centro de Estudios Andaluces E2001/07, Centro de Estudios Andaluces.
    2. Di Corato, Luca & Montinari, Natalia, 2014. "Flexible waste management under uncertainty," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 234(1), pages 174-185.
    3. Francisco J. André & Emilio Cerdá, 2005. "Gestión de residuos sólidos urbanos: Análisis económico y políticas públicas," Economic Working Papers at Centro de Estudios Andaluces E2005/23, Centro de Estudios Andaluces.
    4. Jannett Highfill & Michael McAsey, 2001. "Landfilling Versus ``Backstop'' Recycling When Income Is Growing," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 19(1), pages 37-52, May.
    5. Eduardo Ley & Molly K. Macauley & Stephen W. Salant, "undated". "Spatially and intertemporally efficient waste management: The costs of interstate flow control," Working Papers 97-07, FEDEA.
    6. Julien Daubanes & Pierre Lasserre, 2019. "The supply of non-renewable resources," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 52(3), pages 1084-1111, August.
    7. Andrade de Sá, Saraly & Daubanes, Julien, 2016. "Limit pricing and the (in)effectiveness of the carbon tax," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 28-39.
    8. Fabre, Adrien & Fodha, Mouez & Ricci, Francesco, 2020. "Mineral resources for renewable energy: Optimal timing of energy production," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    9. Soren T. Anderson & Ryan Kellogg & Stephen W. Salant, 2018. "Hotelling under Pressure," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 126(3), pages 984-1026.
    10. Lafforgue, Gilles & Lorang, Etienne, 2022. "Recycling under environmental, climate and resource constraints," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    11. Massimiliano Mazzanti & Roberto Zoboli, 2008. "Waste Generation, Incineration and Landfill Diversion. De-coupling Trends, Socio-Economic Drivers and Policy Effectiveness in the EU," Working Papers 2008.94, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    12. Okullo, Samuel J. & Reynès, Frédéric & Hofkes, Marjan W., 2015. "Modeling peak oil and the geological constraints on oil production," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 36-56.
    13. Di Maria, Corrado & Smulders, Sjak & van der Werf, Edwin, 2012. "Absolute abundance and relative scarcity: Environmental policy with implementation lags," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 104-119.
    14. Kiyoka Akimoto & Koichi Futagami, 2018. "Transition from a Linear Economy toward a Circular Economy in the Ramsey Model," Discussion Papers in Economics and Business 18-09, Osaka University, Graduate School of Economics.
    15. Lafforgue, Gilles & Rouge, Luc, 2019. "A dynamic model of recycling with endogenous technological breakthrough," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 101-118.
    16. Richard Benjamin & Jeffrey Wagner, 2006. "Reconsidering the law and economics of low-level radioactive waste management," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 8(1), pages 33-53, December.
    17. Heun, Matthew Kuperus & de Wit, Martin, 2012. "Energy return on (energy) invested (EROI), oil prices, and energy transitions," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 147-158.
    18. Jong Seok Lim & Paul Missios, 2007. "Does size really matter? Landfill scale impacts on property values," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(10), pages 719-723.
    19. Richard Benjamin & Jeffrey Wagner, 2006. "Reconsidering the law and economics of low-level radioactive waste management," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 8(1), pages 33-53, December.
    20. Gaudet, Gerard & Moreaux, Michel & Withagen, Cees, 2006. "The Alberta dilemma: Optimal sharing of a water resource by an agricultural and an oil sector," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 548-566, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Non-renewable resource; Recycling; Optimal control; Waste disposal;
    All these keywords.

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:urb:wpaper:22_02. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Carmela Nicoletti (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/feurbit.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.