Abstract
The aims of this study were to (i) provide a critique of waste hierarchy (WH), (ii) provide a policy review of the circular economy (CE), and (iii) recommend best management practices (BMPs) in the Mediterranean under Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12. European Mediterranean countries (i.e. Spain, France, Italy, Malta, Slovenia, Croatia, Greece, and Cyprus) were evaluated via the measurement of the total factor productivity (TFP) and its components (i.e. efficiency change and technological change). Productivity performance was measured via the Malmquist (MPI) and the Malmquist—Luenberger (MLPI) productivity indices. The incorporation of municipal solid waste (MSW) generation as an undesirable output can provide specific information linked with productivity performance and economic development. Greece (1.9%) and Cyprus (1.6%) were found to have the greatest TFPs based on the MPI, while Malta (2.2%) and Greece (1.9%) had the highest scores in terms of the MLPI (i.e. upon incorporating waste generation into the model). In essence, the incorporation of municipal waste generation reduced productivity performance in the studied countries. All in all, the provision of BMPs and the amelioration of waste performance would enable policymakers to achieve economic integration and sustainable regional economic growth.
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Data availability
Data can be found at the World Bank database. The authors wish to declare that they can submit the data at any time at the publisher’s request. The dataset used and/or analyzed during the current study is available from the authors on reasonable request.
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Halkos, G.E., Aslanidis, P.S.C. Promoting sustainable waste management for regional economic development in European Mediterranean countries. Euro-Mediterr J Environ Integr 8, 767–775 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41207-023-00405-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41207-023-00405-y
Keywords
- Waste hierarchy
- Best management practices
- SDG 12
- Malmquist productivity index
- Malmquist–Luenberger productivity index
- European Green Deal