THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WASTE MANAGEMENT AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN OECD COUNTRIES: A PANEL QUANTILE REGRESSION APPROACH

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the effects of waste management methods on economic growth, such as recycling, composting, landfilling and incineration of wastes. Following this purpose, the related data which the period of 2000-2017 of the OECD countries are analyzed using the panel quantile regression method. In the study, fixed effects panel regression estimation was also performed to make comparisons. According to the findings, the amount of waste per capita and all types of waste management positively affect economic growth. The most important finding, however, is that the rate of recycled and composted waste affects economic growth more than landfilled and incinerated. Therefore, to achieve sustainable economic growth, it is considered that the basic principle of the circular economy approach in the form of reduce-reuse-recycle should be generalized.