Increasing Recycling through Container Deposit : A Fixed Effects analysis of the Swedish increase in Container Deposit September 2010

• Main Author: Thörnelöf, Ivar
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Uppsala universitet, Nationalekonomiska institutionen 2016
• Subjects: Container deposit; Recycling; Fixed effects; Environmental Economics; Sweden.
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-301352

This thesis analyze the impact on recycling from the increase in the deposit on metal cans that took place in Sweden, September 2010. This is done by using a fixed effects model, fixed on municipality, month, and year. Additionally, the thesis investigates the response of different socioeconomic groups to this change by investigating the interaction between deposit and variables for the socioeconomic factors of interest. Interactions for income, education, immigration, environmental awareness, and population density are investigated. The results show that, on avarage, the recycling in each of the Swedish municipalities have increased by 24.739 units per month, this represents an elasticity of recycling with respect to container deposit of 0.04. The results further indicate that there is strong negative interaction between deposit and income, suggesting that as income increases, the individual will be less responsive to a change in deposit. Contrary to theory, the results indicate positive interaction between deposit and education, indicating that, as education increases the individual becomes more responsive to a change in deposit.