We examine the role of social norms and warm-glow in a theoretical framework and establish that improving the quality of recycling facilities, for example through kerbside collection, will elicit more recycling effort if warm-glow is present. Drawing on the literature, we model the role of social norms with reference to age profile, ethnicity and geographical location of the reference group. Using English local authority data, we show that a social norm for recycling does exist. We find the expected relationship between the quality of kerbside provision and recycling activity if the household derives warm-glow from the activity, however it is insignificant. Amongst the control variables we find evidence that multifamily dwellings recycle less.

Household waste recycling rates vary significantly both across and within regions of the UK. This paper attempts to explain the variation by using a new data set of waste recycling rates and policy determinants for all of the UK's 434 local authorities over the period 2006Q2 to 2008Q4. Our results suggest that the method of recycling collection chosen by policy makers is an important factor influencing the recycling rate. We also find an inverse relationship between the frequency of the residual waste collection and the recycling rate.

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Excess nitrogen in soils, fresh water, estuarine and marine systems contributes to nutrient enrichment in key ecosystems throughout Europe, often leading to detrimental environmental impacts, such as soil acidification or the eutrophication of water bodies. The Integrated Nitrogen model for European Catchments (INCA) project aims to develop a generic version of the Integrated Nitrogen in Catchments (INCA) model to simulate the retention and transport of nitrogen within river systems, thereby providing a tool to aid the understanding of nitrogen dynamics and for river-basin management/policy-making. To facilitate the development of the model, 10 partners have tested the INCA model with data collected in study sites located in eight European countries as part of the INCA project. This paper summarises the key nitrogen issues within Europe, describes the main aims and methodology of the INCA project, and sets the project in the context of the current major research initiatives at a European level.

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In light of increasingly ambitious recycling targets it is important to analyse the potential displacement effect of improving access to kerbside provision on other forms of recycling. Do households view the different modes of recycling as substitutes or complements of each other? Does this perceived relationship depend on the type of material recycled? Using data for all of the UK's local governments from 2004Q2 to 2013Q3 we analyse the nature of the relationship between the two main channels of recycling. In the case of dry recycling, the empirical findings are ambiguous on the trade-off between kerbside and non-kerbside recycling. On the one hand, the findings suggest that there is no trade-off when considering the effect of expanding kerbside provision. On the other hand, the findings also suggest that there is a trade-off when we focus on the effect of expanding non-kerbside provision. However, putting together the empirical findings with theory (in particular, the symmetry property of the Hicksian substitution effect) suggests that there is a trade-off irrespective of whether we consider expansion of kerbside or non-kerbside provision. In the case of green (compost) recycling the empirical findings on their own or together with theory unambiguously suggest that there is a trade-off.

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