Waste Hierarchy in Action

The “waste hierarchy” principle is a pillar of European environmental policy. Despite the presence of common objectives set by the European Union, each country maintains a wide margin of autonomy in implementation, deciding how to incentivize the most effective actions (reduction, reuse, recycling) and discourage those that are less sustainable (incineration and landfill). This causes considerable heterogeneity, both in the strategies adopted and in the results obtained: some countries have achieved significant milestones, while others still show significant room for improvement.
Intervening with targeted and ambitious policies is increasingly urgent. Through the analysis of six emblematic cases, the volume identifies the necessary conditions to make the waste hierarchy principle a reality. Strong determination from political or corporate leadership, the involvement of authoritative and passionate experts, stakeholder engagement, the availability of adequate resources, and project flexibility emerge as decisive enabling factors to overcome bottlenecks and the many regulatory, cultural, and industrial resistances.
From the cross-sectional reading of the cases, it emerges that there is no ideal context or single model for scaling the waste hierarchy, just as no single “best practice” can be identified, but rather a plurality of good practices that can be combined synergistically.
The book is aimed at anyone who wants to understand how the circular economy can move from vision to transformative practice: public decision-makers, managers, scholars, and citizens engaged in ecological transition, offering concrete examples and a replicable model for implementing strategies capable of reconciling economic balance, environmental sustainability, and social equity. A work that not only describes good practices, but wants to make them systematic and scalable, helping to overcome the many “walls of no” and instilling positive replication effects.