Document Type

Working Paper

Publication Date

2009

Document Number

Research Paper #2009-3

Abstract

This paper reports our efforts to construct a baseline input-output model with environmental accounts for use in modeling geographically specific e-waste recycling systems. We address conceptual and practical issues that arise when recyclable end-of-life commodities and related activities are incorporated in the traditional input-output model including: 1) shortcomings of existing industry and commodity accounts that do not represent recycling activities and recyclable end-of-life products explicitly; 2) accounting challenges related to flows of end-of-life products observed mainly in physical volumes; and 3) valuing end-of-life products whose transactions prices vary widely. These three issues complicate the incorporation of end-of-life commodities within the conventional input-output framework. We present a way to record transactions of end-of-life products in both physical and monetary terms in the input-output model with environmental accounts (IOEA). Specifically, we present a case of e-waste recycling for the Atlanta Metropolitan Area with an empirically based hypothetical scenario.

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