Illicit Waste Trafficking and Eco-Mafias: An Economic Analysis of Crime and Policy Responses Beyond Repressive Measures

Illicit waste trafficking is one of the main global environmental and economic threats. In Europe, the phenomenon has reached worrying levels, requiring strong institutional intervention. This chapter offers an economic analysis of environmental crime applied to the illegal waste market, focusing on the case of Italy. Using a basic economic model inspired by Becker’s (1968) framework, it examines the economic viability of criminal organizations involved in illicit waste trafficking and highlights the role that the social economy and the social reuse of assets confiscated from criminal organizations can play. Existing literature suggests that illicit waste trafficking is particularly favoured by regulatory complexity, information asymmetries, and the low probability of sanctions that characterise several European countries, creating favourable conditions for this illegal activity. The chapter argues that better results in combating so-called “ecomafie” could be achieved by combining traditional deterrence measures with the benefits generated by social actions. The findings suggest that the most effective strategy for reducing the economic viability of eco-mafias is a mix of preventive and deterrent measures built around the social reuse of confiscated assets and the potential of the social economy to regenerate new business relationships that do not rely on the support of criminal organizations.