Shaping circularity: waste management policy under the Biden administration

Abstract

Defining a comprehensive waste management policy entails a broad range of policy tools, as well as the need to take into account a composite set of multifaceted concerns, both environmental and socio-economic. Within the US context, this paper addresses the main role played by the Biden Administration in advancing a comprehensive framework for circular economy in a multilevel scenario, while setting ambitious social and environmental goals. In order to do so, this paper sheds some light on the broader framework characterizing waste management policy at Federal level, including the key tenets of the Trump Administration’s “back to basics” approach, while suggesting a possible way forward for the US Presidency in this specific policy sector.

Keywords: EPA, waste management, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, circular economy