3s3: Waste management and circular economy: building a CGE framework

Abstract

Growing population and per capita consumption is expected to generate about 3.4 billion tons of waste by 2050. A large part of this waste stream could be reused or recycled, however without  intervention most of this waste will end up dumped or in landfill or incineration sites. The reuse, recycling and use of waste for materials, chemicals, energy and animal feed can contribute to a more sustainable, efficient and integrated bio-based economy. This paper focuses on developing a methodology to include waste management in CGE modelling framework. The implementation of waste systems in CGE models is not yet a common practice. Work focusing on small fractions of the puzzle does exist - residues from agriculture and forest, food waste reduction - however exploring the possibilities of a truly circular system remains unfulfilled. In this paper we provide details on methodology and database required to implement waste streams in the CGE model MAGNET. Finally we show some simulation examples and results.