If You Build It, Will They Compost? The Effects of Municipal Composting Services on Household Waste Disposal and Landfill Emissions

Lihini Silva () and Rebecca Taylor
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Lihini Silva: Monash University

Environmental & Resource Economics, 2024, vol. 87, issue 3, No 7, 789 pages

Abstract: Abstract Composting food and garden waste generates less methane emissions than landfills, yet most organic waste is landfilled. This paper examines how local government provision of composting services affects the amount of household waste going to landfills. Using quasi-random adoption of curbside organics collection by local councils in Australia, we find that curbside organics collection diverted one-fourth of household waste from landfill to composting. We find no evidence that organics collection altered total household waste and weak evidence of a small negative spillover effect on dry-recycling waste. Our results suggest curbside organics collection could reduce emissions from landfills by 6–26%.

Keywords: Food and garden waste; Curbside waste collection; Composting; Recycling; Landfills; Methane emissions; Event study (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q18 Q53 Q58 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1007/s10640-023-00834-x

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