Conference Agenda
Overview and details of the sessions of this conference. Please select a date or location to show only sessions at that day or location. Please select a single session for detailed view (with abstracts and downloads if available).
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Daily Overview |
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Circular Economy 2 Location: B004 Session Chair: Marius Fourné, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH) | |
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The National Sword Policy and the EU waste market 1: RFF-CMCC European Institute on Economics and the Environment (EIEE), Fondazione Centro Euromediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici (CMCC), Italy; 2: RFF-CMCC European Institute on Economics and the Environment (EIEE), Fondazione Centro Euromediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici (CMCC), Italy; 3: RFF-CMCC European Institute on Economics and the Environment (EIEE), Fondazione Centro Euromediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici (CMCC), Italy Implemented in 2018, China’s National Sword Policy (NSP) imposed strict restrictions on waste imports, particularly for plastics and paper, creating a large and quasi-exogenous shock to European waste exports. Because EU recycling targets can be met through both domestic recycling and exports for recycling, the policy disrupted an important compliance channel. Using panel data on packaging recycling rates by material and country, we implement a Difference-in-Differences (DiD) strategy that exploits variation in exposure across materials. We find that recycling rates for paper and plastics declined significantly following the ban, indicating that export-based recycling played an important role in supporting European recycling performance prior to the policy change. To assess medium-run adaptation, we also examine technological responses using patent data on recycling-related innovations and a DiD approach using other green technologies as a control group. We find a significant increase in patenting activity related to plastics and packaging recycling in Europe. By analyzing both recycling outcomes and innovation activity, the paper provides evidence on the dependence of European recycling systems on foreign recycling capacity and on their ability to adapt following a major disruption to global waste trade. | |