No abstract

The concept of sustainable development was introduced in Europe by the Treaty of Amsterdam (1997) and was extended to waste management in the Waste Framework Directive. In order to achieve sustainable development, hazardous waste (HW) must be managed safely and in accordance with regulations. This also applies to worldwide HW transport, especially when HW is shipped for disposal. The United Nations, through the Basel Convention, aims to prevent the export of HW from developed countries to developing countries for disposal. In Europe, HW shipments are regulated by Regulation (EC) No. 1013/2006 of the European Parliament and by the Council of 14 June 2006 on shipments of waste. Additionally, all HW shipments must be in accordance with two principles contained in the Waste Framework Directive: proximity and self-sufficiency. Using data from 2014 and network analysis methodology, this paper fills the gaps in the scientific literature by looking at how shipments of HW travel for disposal in Europe, how the regulations affect these shipments and how GDP per capita influences the shipment of waste. The results show that countries with a high GDP per capita play an important role in the network (having the highest in-degree) and that the absence of landfill taxes for HW does not influence HW shipments for disposal. Therefore, countries in the EU act in accordance with the proximity and self-sufficiency principles.

In Europe, there are different regulations regarding hazardous waste management with which European Union Member States must comply. On the one hand, Member States must meet the recovery targets that are set in the different waste Directives, and they have two options here: material recovery facilities in the country of origin, or recovery through the shipment of waste. In addition, EU Member States must comply with the regulations governing the shipment of hazardous waste (HW), that is, the Basel Convention and the European Regulation on the shipment of waste. Two main questions arise: where is hazardous waste sent, and why? We analyse the European regulation on the shipment of waste, and we consider the above questions by combining network analysis methodology, to examine which countries in the network can be grouped in HW-trading communities, and ANOVA technique to study how the groups created in the network behave in different contexts. These HW-trading communities can be assessed according to European Innovation Indicators, GDP, and other variables. The results allow us to understand the drivers behind the shipment of HW for recovery in Europe. First, this study provides a descriptive overview of the relationships between European countries, the way in which they cooperate and describes how each country is positioned in the joint network. Second, the study is able to identify the most relevant countries in the network. Third, the HW-trading communities are analysed to discover whether they behave differently from the other groups according to GDP and other variables, amongst which we have included the following Europe Innovation Indicators: innovation index, research systems, innovation friendly environment, or innovators. The results show that the Nordic countries are outstanding in the way in which their waste is managed with other countries and reveal a community that works both in the context of hazardous waste shipment and innovation.

No abstract