The category of trade-related factors consists of two variables. The variable "trade-dependency" represents the degree to which the economy relies on international trade in general. This is measured as the value added generated by the trade as a share of the gross domestic product (GDP). The hypothesis is that recycling is higher in countries that are highly dependency on trade. The rationale is that in open economy it is easier for recycling industries inputs and sell outputs. On the input side, this flexibility is particularly important because the recyclable material market is still a surplus market. In an open economy, the occurrence of large fluctuations in domestic supply of secondary materials can more easily be anticipated. Moreover, open economies are generally well equipped