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Lecture 2 - Economics and Financing of Waste Management

1. Economics and Financing of Waste Management

As the terms waste MANAGEMENT and Circular ECONOMY already imply, handling waste is connected with many fields of the economics. How do we finance the logistics, treatment, monitoring and recycling? How are recycling products marketed? What is the best route of the waste truck in order to operate in the most cost-efficient way? How is the personal organised? How should we handle the limited resources of planet Earth in order to also use them in future? What guidance is needed from the government in order for this to work? Or can self-organisation take place?

Before we can dive deeper into more waste managment related topics, we first have to explain what can be understood under "Economy" and how economy and environment connect to each other. 

This is a very theoretical site of economics. While creativity and innovative business ideas are important for a business all this has to happen within the boundaries set by the political and legal system which is influencing the macro economics. The economic system was afterall developed by humans and thus is inluenced by changes made to the rules applied. Similar how you would change your strategy in a game if a new rule is introduced.

When it comes to financing methods for waste managment systems, one approach is extremly promising and currently highly discussed: the Extended Producer Responsibilty (EPR). Therefore, it will be given it's own chapter which you can jump to immediately when you are familiar with economic theories and traditional financing schemes for waste managment. Otherwise or if you are interested in how the topic was approached here, please keep on reading.