An Economic Analysis Of Household Waste Management

The market of municipal solid waste (MSW) collection and disposal has changed substantially over the past thirty years. This study will help guide both newcomers and past contributors through the fundamental aspects of policies designed to reduce the external costs of MSW collection, and the important empirical relationships that, in the end, govern the selection of MSW policies. The International Library of Environmental Economics and Policy explores the influence of economics on the development of environmental and natural resource policy. In a series of twenty-five volumes, the most significant journal essays in key areas of contemporary environmental and resource policy are collected. Scholars who are recognized for their expertise and contribution to the literature in the various research areas serve as volume editors and write essays that provides the context for the collection. Volumes in the series reflect three broad strands of economic research including 1) Natural and Environmental Resources, 2) Policy Instruments and Institutions and 3) Methodology. The editors, in their introduction to each volume, provide a state-of-the-art overview of the topic and explain the influence and relevance of the collected papers on the development of policy. This reference series provides access to the economic literature that has shaped contemporary perspectives on land use analysis and policy.

The Workshop held by OECD in October 2003, in Paris, France, brought together leading experts to take stock of “the state of the art" on the economics of waste and to help select topics on which the OECD could usefully do additional work. The book ...

This book surveys existing literature from both waste management and behavioural sciences to offer a complete overview of how economic agents relate to a central matter in the policy making agenda: that of waste prevention and recycling. Environmental behavioural economics is a growing field of research, yet investigation in this area concentrates mostly on energy savings or pollution reduction. The authors highlight the importance of the role of waste management, analysing the effect of monetary and non-monetary incentives and motivations, and explores the complex interplay between motivations, recycling, minimisation and waste policies to affect consumer behaviour. This book will be of interest to researchers and policy-makers in the fields of waste management and environmental economics.

Currently, the management of solid waste represents a major economic and environmental issue throughout the world. Trends in waste generation show an increase in the volumes of waste produced in most countries and it is clear that the trend will continue. The treatment and disposal of solid waste involves a range of processes including landfill, incineration and composting, all of which may result in emissions to the environment. Municipal investments are said to be highly capital-intensive. As a result, every investment needs to be preceded by the economic analysis which allows for the estimation of the effectiveness of the investment. Investments are made to make profits and to increase savings. This book presents current research in the study of municipal solid waste, with a particular focus on recycling and cost effectiveness.

Extract: This report provides information on the costs of developing and operating 47 collection and disposal systems in rural cities of less than 10,000 population in the southeastern U.S. The cost components, such as labor and capital requirements, are identified and analyzed in order to help small communities estimate costs of similar solid waste systems in rural areas.

Originally published in 1991. The dilemma of solid and hazardous waste disposal in an environmentally safe manner has become a global problem. This book presents a modern approach to economic and operations research modelling in urban and regional waste management with an international perspective. Location and space economics are discussed along with transportation, technology, health hazards, capacity levels, political realities and the linkage with general global economic systems. The algorithms and models developed are then applied to two major cities in the world by way of case study example of the use of these systems.