Testing the environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis for E-waste in the EU28+2 countries

This paper investigates the Kuznets Curve hypothesis for e-waste using a balanced panel of 30 European countries (EU28 + 2) over the period 2000e2016. To account for the dynamic and the time-invariant characteristics, we employed the generalized method of moments (GMM) estimator as a core method and used the 2SLS estimator and cross-section method to analyze the robustness of results. We found that the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis is well supported for e-waste generated in the EU28 + 2 area. In addition, this relationship is robust and is not sensitive to the choice of control variables and the estimation methods. All three methods evidenced EKC in e-waste for the studied European area. This reveals that e-waste generation increases with an increasing GDP up to a certain GDP level (turning point), but thereafter decreases despite further economic growth. While this suggests that ewaste generation and the related adverse environmental impacts will decline at elevated GDP levels, the results of this study highlight that the turning point occurs at rather exceptionally high levels of GDP. The evidence of EKC in e-waste contributes to better understanding the interlinkage between economic growth and e-waste generation, but it does not diminish the urgent need to implement effective e-waste collection and valorization schemes. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.