Environmental and Economic Approaches to Assessing Solid Waste Management in Large Cities in Russia

Maxim R. Chashchin, Elena R. Magaril

Ural Federal University named after the First President of Russia B.N. Yeltsin, Yekaterinburg, Russia

Abstract

Improving the effectiveness of management decisions in the waste management industry is impossible without assessing its effectiveness by taking into account not only economic aspects but also the impact on the environment. The lack of comprehensive approaches to assessing municipal solid waste (MSW) management that would take into account environmental and economic aspects and the importance of having such approaches in the course of the transition to the principles of a closed-loop economy determines the relevance of research aimed at solving the problems of ecological and economic assessment of MSW. The aim of the research is to improve the methodological tools for ecological and economic assessment of MSW and to test them. The research is based on the hypothesis of the applicability of economic turnover approaches to the analysis of solid municipal waste management cycles, which could reveal their interconnection with general economic cycles and improve management efficiency. To test the hypothesis, an analysis of panel data on the activities of enterprises and regional solid municipal waste operators was used, as well as information from government reports on the state of the environment. A methodological approach to the ecological and economic assessment of solid municipal waste management was proposed and tested on the example of large cities in Russia, including the authors' proposed corrective industry indicators of environmental impact: carbon intensity and water intensity of the waste life cycle, as well as an indicator of the effectiveness of solid municipal waste management. A positive correlation has been identified between solid municipal waste management cycles and general economic cycles. Median values of key ecological and economic indicators of regional operators' activities have been calculated for comparative analysis. Recommendations have been substantiated for the application of economic incentives based on the flexible use of corrective indicators to improve the environmental and economic efficiency of the activities of industry players. The results obtained enable an environmental and economic assessment of solid municipal waste management, taking into account indicators of environmental intensity that are significant for the industry indicators of environmental intensity that are significant for the industry, which is especially important in the context of the transition to a closed-loop economy. They also make it possible to identify problematic stages of the management cycle, justify incentive measures, and form the basis for improving the management of solid municipal waste.

Keywords

circular economy; sustainable development; investment mechanism; solid municipal waste management; ESG-indicators.

JEL classification

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About Authors

Maxim Rinatovich Chashchin

Post-Graduate Student, Department of Environmental Economics, Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B.N. Yeltsin, Yekaterinburg, Russia (620002, Yekaterinburg, Mira street, 19); ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6582-5383 e-mail: f123503@yandex.ru

Elena Romenovna Magaril

Doctor of Technical Science, Professor, Head of Department of Environmental Economics, Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B.N. Yeltsin, Yekaterinburg, Russia (620002, Yekaterinburg, Mira street, 19); ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3034-9978 e-mail: magaril67@mail.ru

For citation

Chashchin, M.R., Magaril, E.R. (2025). Environmental and Economic Approaches to Assessing Solid Waste Management in Large Cities in Russia. Journal of Applied Economic Research, Vol. 24, No. 4, 1343-1370. https://doi.org/10.15826/vestnik.2025.24.4.044

Article info

Received April 22, 2025; Revised July 7, 2025; Accepted August 14, 2025.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15826/vestnik.2025.24.4.044

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