Environmental and Financial Performance in Italian Waste Management Firms

This paper examines the effects of environmental management on financial performance of Italian urban waste management firms (WMFs). In particular, we sought to test whether compliance with the “hierarchical” principle of the EU waste management system can positively impact WMF’s financial performance. Using a quantitative, methodological approach, we tested the relationship between differentiated urban waste collections on total urban waste (DW), calculated for each of 87 Italian provinces, as well as company performance, measured by the Value Added (VA) to the 335 WMFs, operating mainly in each province, for the period 2010-2013. The results obtained from different tests highlight a statistically significant positive correlation between the level of DW and firm performance. Our findings are consistent with the resource-based view and contribute to the literature on environmental and firm performance.