The costs of municipal waste and recycling programs

Robert A. Bohm, David H. Folz, Thomas Kinnaman and Michael J. Podolsky

Resources, Conservation & Recycling, 2010, vol. 54, issue 11, 864-871

Abstract: This paper estimates cost functions for both municipal solid waste collection and disposal services and curbside recycling programs. Cost data are obtained from a national survey of randomly selected municipalities. Results suggest, perhaps unsurprisingly, that both marginal and average costs of recycling systems exceed those of waste collection and disposal systems. Economies of scale are estimated for all observed quantities of waste collection and disposal. Economies of scale for recycling disappear at high levels of recycling—marginal and average cost curves for recycling take on the usual U-shape. Waste and recycling costs are also estimated as functions of factor costs and program attributes.

Keywords: Solid waste; Recycling; Cost functions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (21)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:recore:v:54:y:2010:i:11:p:864-871

DOI: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2010.01.005

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