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The decision-making and policy formation context in Iceland has been largely devoid of total economic valuations in cost-benefit assessments. Using an internet survey and applying the double bounded dichotomous choice methodology, this contingent valuation study sets out an estimate of the total economic value pertaining to Heiðmörk, a popular recreational area of urban open space located on the fringes of Reykjavík, Garðabær and Kópavogur. In so doing, this case study advances the practice of using non-market valuation techniques in the country. The welfare estimates provide evidence that Icelanders consider Heiðmörk to possess considerable total economic value, with taxpayers willing to pay a mean lump-sum tax in the range 17,039 to 24,790 ISK per payment to secure its preservation, equating to an estimated total economic value of between 5.87 and 35.47 billion ISK. In the light of possible competitive land management demands among Heiðmörk's three owners and many recreational users in the future, the establishment of these values and their potential use in cost-benefit assessments informs the debate concerning whether the area should be preserved or further developed to satisfy economic objectives. Additionally, a body of experimental evidence is formed suggesting that the increased duration of a fixed payment vehicle is associated with much higher total economic valuations compared to a one-year payment period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Target 19 of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal 17 calls for the use of alternative measures of economic welfare in addition to Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) is an example of such a measure, including various non-market benefits and environmental and social costs unaccounted for in GDP. This study presents the results from the first estimate of the GPI for Iceland over the period 2000–2019. Iceland represents an interesting case study given its remoteness, environmental vulnerability, natural resource dependency, and fluctuating economic performance in recent years, which has featured a banking collapse and tourism-fuelled resurgence. The study finds that Iceland's GPI was equal to between 2.41 and 3.05 times the value of national GDP. Statistics for both GDP and the GPI peaked in 2019 at 2,970,076 (USD M 24,237) and 7,163,300 million ISK (USD M 58,443), respectively. Mean annual rates of per capita expansion for both GDP and the GPI were 2.1% and 0.6%, respectively. Despite the scale of the Icelandic GPI, the study also revealed non-negligible values for environmental and social costs which, in aggregate, were equal to between 17.8% and 25.4% of the value of consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Decreasing the yield stress of bentonite facilitated chalcopyrite flotation. • K+ was superior to Na+ in reducing the yield stress but with a lower flotation result. • The discrepancy was related with the modification of bentonite morphology. • The modification was owing to the interaction between K+ and bentonite. Waste management in Iceland has developed considerably in recent years. Before 1990, most of the waste was either burnt in open pits or landfilled. In the past, information about waste management in Iceland used to be almost exclusively published in reports and was primarily based on rough estimates. Currently, incinerators and landfilling sites are highly regulated and follow EU legislation. Additionally, reporting has gradually improved and is approaching EU standards, although improvement is still needed. In an international context, Iceland is far behind the other Nordic countries as well as the EU-27 countries in reducing landfill rates and enhancing energy recovery and recycling rates. According to the EU landfill directive, the total amount of municipal solid waste (MSW) landfilled must be below 10% by 2035; however, it is currently over 60%. Other targets are similarly far off, and it is unlikely that Iceland will meet those in time without immediate and significant changes in waste management. This article aims to evaluate MSW management in Iceland at the national and regional levels, its compliance with the EU's targets for waste management and the associated costs inflicted on municipalities. Hence, annual accounts data were used when comparing regions and municipalities. It was found that there are significant differences in per capita waste management expenditure between municipalities with less than 1,000 inhabitants (€379) and ones with more than 10,000 inhabitants (€106). Without changes in proposed future waste management strategies, this gap will inevitably increase in the upcoming years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Following the success of two trial wind turbines, the national power company of Iceland, Landsvirkjun, proposed a wind farm at Búrfellslundur on the edge of the Icelandic highlands. The farm would comprise of 67 turbines with combined production capacity of 200 MW. The Environmental Impact Assessment for the development raised concerns about the visual impacts of the proposals on the surrounding countryside. In this study, the contingent valuation method was applied to evaluate preferences and estimate willingness to pay to preserve Búrfellslundur. This study represents only the third contribution in the international academic literature concerning the economic value of the environmental costs of developing wind farms, and the first focused on onshore resources. In addition, this paper fulfills a call by the OECD, who have requested that Iceland commence economic valuation of the environmental impacts of energy projects. A web-based contingent valuation survey was developed and issued by the University of Iceland's Social Science Research Institute, receiving 690 respondents. Of these, 28% were willing to pay for preservation. Interval regression using log-transformation was applied to estimate mean willingness-to-pay, which was 12,549 ISK (approximately US $128). When scaled up to the Icelandic population of taxpayers, the economic value of preserving Búrfellslundur was estimated to be 3.17 billion ISK (approximately US $32.3 million). These results are of a scale that could have a significant impact on the social welfare gains or losses associated with Búrfellslundur, and inform the international land-use management debate concerning the trade-offs of developing wind farms. Highlights • Onshore wind energy a new renewable energy technology in Iceland. • Estimated total WTP of 3.17 billion to preserve Búrfellslundur. • CV studies progress use of non-market valuation techniques in Iceland. • Informs international debate concerning trade-offs of developing onshore wind farms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]