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α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count
Recycling waste from used goods can substitute for scarce virgin materials and reduce resource dependence. We present a model of waste collection, recycling, and final goods production using virgin and recycled materials. Environmentally safe disposal of trash (non-recycled waste) requires costly processing by landfill and burning which creates externalities. Trade between resource poor and resource rich countries involves non-trivial interactions between terms of trade effects and distortions in recycling and resource extraction. We analyze welfare improving policy intervention with local trash disposal and with trade in trash.