Does national environmental regulation promote convergence in separate waste collection? Evidence from Italy.

In the European Union, which is increasingly oriented towards environmentally sustainable development, separate waste collection plays a crucial role. Over the years, the EU has produced several guidelines, programmes and directives aimed to build a green society and tone down the differences between, as well as within, Member States. In Italy, the waste management system is currently regulated by Legislative Decree 152/2006, through which European directives have been incorporated into the Italian law. The existing literature has focused on the effects of L.D. 152/2006 on Separate Waste Collection (SWC) rates; however, there are not previous studies on the effects of this decree on growth rates and on convergence process among regions in terms of SWC and its items (i.e., organic, plastic, paper, and glass). This paper aims to fill these gaps. For this purpose, we implement β- and σ- convergence analysis based on Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) on official Italian regional data over the period 2001–2018. Results show that Legislative Decree 152/2006 has two contrasting effects: on the one hand, it helped increase separate waste collection; on the other hand, it slowed down the convergence process in terms of separate waste collection among the Italian regions. However, the convergence process is characterised by different speeds across Italian macro-areas (Northern, Central, and Southern Italy), highlighting a three-speed country. To foster convergence, the national legislation should consider regional differences in terms of economic, infrastructural, institutional, social, and demographic characteristics. Image 1 • We implement β- and σ-convergence analysis on Italian regional data through GMM estimations. • Legislative Decree 152/2006 promoted the growth of SWC rates. • Legislative Decree 152/2006 reduced β - and σ-convergence among Italian regions in terms of SWC. • Regional convergence in SWC is conditioned by regional socio-economic drivers. • Results show a three-speed Italy in terms of SWC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]