Waste management during the early stages of the COVID-19 Pandemic in China, Italy and Spain: Comparative legal aspects and the impact on climate

Climate change issues and the Covid-19 crisis are pervasive topics within the arena of contemporary scholarly debates. Since early-2020, scientific literature has focused on the impact of the health crisis’ measures on climate, especially during and after the application of curfews, lockdowns and other forms of social distancing and travel bans that affect anthropogenic emissions. In the context of climate change mitigation measures, waste management represents one of the non-energy sources of greenhouse gases that might affect both climate and the environment, basically due to two phenomena: 1) emissions of methane and carbon dioxide (mainly from landfills); 2) indirect emissions deriving from management policies. The early responses in waste management during the Covid-19 crisis spanning China, Italy and Spain foster several questions: is the Chinese response more effective than the European ones due to the experiences of previous epidemic diseases (i.e., 2003 SARS)? In reference to authoritarian, centralised or devolved systems of governance, which pattern of territorial and administrative division has favoured more responsive measures? In quantitative terms, to what extent did legal responses in waste management impact on climate? With the aim of addressing the said critical issues, the essay focuses on three specific topics: a) introductory aspects of the interconnections between climate change and Covid-19; b) impact of waste management policies and legislations on climate change; c) waste management measures at the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in China, Italy and Spain.