The UK waste input–output table: Linking waste generation to the UK economy

Ramy Salemdeeb, Abir Al-Tabbaa, Christian Reynolds

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

34 Citations (Scopus)
15 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

To move towards a circular economy, there must be greater understanding of the linkages between economic activity and waste generation. We suggest the introduction of Waste Input-Output (WIO) table as a way to capture these complex dynamics. This study introduces the first version of the UK WIO table that could be used to quantify capture both direct and indirect waste arisings across the supply chain. Our WIO table has 22 industrial sectors and 34 waste types and is for the 2010 time period.
Using the WIO table, this study quantitatively confirm that sectors with a long supply chain (i.e. manufacturing and services sectors) have higher indirect waste generation rates compared to industrial primary sectors (e.g. mining and quarrying) and sectors with a shorter supply chain (e.g. construction). Results also reveal that the construction and mining and quarrying sectors have the highest waste generation rates, 670 and 630 tonne per £1m of final demand respectively. Due to the aggregated format of the first version of the WIO, the model doesn’t link between waste generation and recycling activities. Therefore, future work includes expanding the model to include recycling activities. This would ultimately lead to a better understanding of waste and resource flows in the supply chain.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1089–1094
Number of pages6
JournalWaste Management & Research
Volume34
Issue number10
Early online date20 Jul 2016
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Oct 2016

Keywords

  • Environmental accounting
  • Input-output analysis (IOA)
  • Waste quantification
  • Waste attribution
  • circular economy

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