Informace o publikaci
Municipal Waste and the Economy: Analyzing Evidence of Dematerialization in Germany and Its Implications for CEE Countries
| Autoři | |
|---|---|
| Rok publikování | 2008 |
| Druh | Další prezentace na konferencích |
| Fakulta / Pracoviště MU | |
| Citace | |
| Popis | In their efforts to promote sustainable development, both the European Union as a bloc and individual member states have sought to address the increasing quantities of waste being produced in modern European society. By making municipal waste reduction one of its top policy priorities, the EU has shown the link between economic production and consumption activities and concern for environmental protection. While EU authorities assert that progress is being made to minimize household waste production, evidence suggests that despite policy measures the trend continues toward increasing amounts of waste. The situation in Germany is a case in point, since the country has made dramatic and innovative efforts to encourage economy-wide changes in production and consumption activities in order to achieve the goal of dematerialization, or the decoupling of economic activity from material inputs and pollution outputs. While German authorities claim the country is making progress, empirical study of waste management reveals inconclusive evidence of whether Germany is really in a process of environmentally friendly dematerialization. This paper tests the hypothesis that dematerialization is occurring within the Germany economy using data about municipal solid waste (MSW) generation, and concludes that the possible social and environmental impacts of the observed trends are not necessarily positive. The recent problem of illegal waste shipments from Germany to the Višegrad countries, including the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, demonstrates that closing the materials-use loop to reduce social and environmental impacts remains an elusive goal even for an advanced industrial economy. |