Spatial environmental efficiency indicators in regional waste generation: a nonparametric approach

This paper computes and analyses, for the first time, environmental efficiencies in waste generation of 116 European regions in NUTS 2 level in five European countries over the period of 2008–2010. For this reason, different data envelopment analysis (DEA) model formulations are used for modeling the pollutant in the form of waste generation as a regular output and as a regular input. In the latter case, we also use the notion of eco-efficiency. The empirical findings reveal environmental inefficiencies among the regions, indicating the lack of a uniform regional environmental policy among the European countries. This finding is observed not only for regions between different countries but also among the regions within countries, implying the need for implementation of unified appropriate municipal environmental policies in waste management.