"DISASSEMBLY AND RECOVERY OR RECYCLING THE WASTE? A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS”

The theoretical framework developed in this paper is useful when making a comparison between the disassembly and recovery of exhaustible resources merged with waste, to produce secondary resources, with the recycling of waste as a whole, to get secondary input. The main obstacle to recycling the waste as a whole is technological progress. We study how innovation could help discover more efficient processes and to reduce the extraction rate of exhaustible resources. Using a simple endogenous growth model we are able to compare the two kinds of waste management in terms of their impact on growth rates of total output, technological progress and exhaustible resource. The main results of the model are that the waste recycling process reduces the extraction rate of exhaustible resource. The growth rate of total output reaches its lowest level when the waste is recycled as a whole confirming that there is a trade-off between growth and environmental protection.