European Union vs. the United States: Recycling Policies and Management

Abstract

Recycling diverts municipal solid waste (MSW) from landfills and preserves valuable resources by converting waste material into useful commodities. The concept of recycling materials of value is not new; however, it has become important in MSW management because of economic and environmental issues. Increasing the amount of recycled waste preserves natural resources by reducing the need for more and more landfills. The recycling activities from two study areas, Pordenone Province, Italy and Mahoning County, Ohio, United States of America (US) were considered to evaluate the inducements each area uses to maximize efforts for recycling. Italy is a member of the European Union (EU) and when comparing the percentages of the amount of waste that is recycled versus waste that is incinerated or landfilled among the EU countries, Italy ranks in the middle (Figure 1.0). The EU regulates the recycling management policies for Italy. Mahoning County, Ohio also has an established recycling program, defined by the federal and state Environmental Protection Agency. There are three specific recycling influences: regulations, regularity of MSW pick-up, and economics. Data were collected over three (3) years (2004-2006). Regulations exerted the greatest influence over recycling behavior in Italy followed by economics and regularity of pick-up services. Economics had the greatest influence on recycling in the US, followed by regularity of pick-up and finally regulations. Although waste generation (per capita) in the US is much greater than in Italy, the percentage of waste that US recycles is less than in Italy. This study examined the effectiveness of recycling practices in each study area and determined that practices from one country could be effective in the other and vice versa.