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Main Authors: Hatsor, Limor, Jelnov, Artyom
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.08483
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author Hatsor, Limor
Jelnov, Artyom
author_facet Hatsor, Limor
Jelnov, Artyom
contents The premise of industrial symbiosis IS is that advancing a circular economy that reuses byproducts as inputs in production is valuable for the environment. We challenge this premise in a simple model. Ceteris paribus, IS is an environmentally friendly approach; however, implementing IS may introduce increased pollution into the market equilibrium. The reason for this is that producers' incentives for recycling can be triggered by the income gained from selling recycled waste in the secondary market, and thereby may not align with environmental protection. That is, producers may boost production and subsequent pollution to sell byproducts without internalizing the pollution emitted in the primary industry or the recycling process. We compare the market solution to the social optimum and identify a key technology parameter - the share of reused byproducts that may have mutual benefits for firms, consumers, and the environment.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2411_08483
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Industrial symbiosis: How to apply successfully
Hatsor, Limor
Jelnov, Artyom
Theoretical Economics
The premise of industrial symbiosis IS is that advancing a circular economy that reuses byproducts as inputs in production is valuable for the environment. We challenge this premise in a simple model. Ceteris paribus, IS is an environmentally friendly approach; however, implementing IS may introduce increased pollution into the market equilibrium. The reason for this is that producers' incentives for recycling can be triggered by the income gained from selling recycled waste in the secondary market, and thereby may not align with environmental protection. That is, producers may boost production and subsequent pollution to sell byproducts without internalizing the pollution emitted in the primary industry or the recycling process. We compare the market solution to the social optimum and identify a key technology parameter - the share of reused byproducts that may have mutual benefits for firms, consumers, and the environment.
title Industrial symbiosis: How to apply successfully
topic Theoretical Economics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.08483