Pay as you throw in the US: Implementation, impacts, and experience

Skumatz, Lisa A.

doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2008.03.033

Cited by 73 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…While the effectiveness of these differentiated waste fees in increasing source separation and recycling is recognized in recent studies [11,[33][34][35][36], their effectiveness in achieving waste reduction in a growing economy is more uncertain, and effects are likely to vary significantly under different circumstances.…”

Section: Policy Instruments For Waste Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Policy Mixes to Achieve Absolute Decoupling: A Case Study of Municipal Waste Management

Montevecchi

2016

Sustainability

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Studying the effectiveness of environmental policies is of primary importance to address the unsustainable use of resources that threatens the entire society. Thus, the aim of this paper is to investigate on the effectiveness of environmental policy instruments to decouple waste generation and landfilling from economic growth. In order to do so, the paper analyzes the case study of the Slovakian municipality of Palarikovo, which has drastically improved its waste management system between 2000 and 2012, through the utilization of differentiated waste taxes and awareness-raising and education campaigns, as well as targeting increased recycling and municipal composting. We find evidence of absolute decoupling for landfilled waste and waste generation, the latter being more limited in time and magnitude. These policy instruments could therefore play an important role in municipalities that are still lagging behind in waste management. More specifically, this policy mix was effective in moving away from landfilling, initiating recycling systems, and to some extent decreasing waste generation. Yet, a more explicit focus on waste prevention will be needed to address the entirety of the problem effectively.

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Section: Policy Instruments For Waste Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Policy Mixes to Achieve Absolute Decoupling: A Case Study of Municipal Waste Management

Montevecchi

2016

Sustainability

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“…This finding may be explained as follows. Unlike in developed countries where the PAYT system is a powerful instrument to increase waste separation and recycling behaviors [4,5], in China, the flat-rate fee system, applied on a basis of per unit area of properties for households, in which the marginal cost of producing one more unit of waste is zero fails to provide sufficient economic incentive for waste separation and recycling [31,71]. A more incentive-compatible charging system should be designed to attract more people to engage in waste sorting.…”

Section: The Effects Of Source Separation and Garbage Fee Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To fight against environmental pollution arising from MSW, both pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) systems under the polluter pays principle [4][5][6][7] and source separation of MSW [8,9] have been widely practiced in developed countries. In recent years, some developing country authorities have adopted these two policy instruments to alleviate their burgeoning solid waste problem without careful consideration of the country's particular socio-political circumstance and tradition [10], although the practical effects of waste charging systems and recycling programs across municipalities are still far from consensus [11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Crowding-Out Effects of Garbage Fees and Voluntary Source Separation Programs on Waste Reduction: Evidence from China

2016

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This paper examines how and to what degree government policies of garbage fees and voluntary source separation programs, with free indoor containers and garbage bags, can affect the effectiveness of municipal solid waste (MSW) management, in the sense of achieving a desirable reduction of per capita MSW generation. Based on city-level panel data for years 1998-2012 in China, our empirical analysis indicates that per capita MSW generated is increasing with per capita disposable income, average household size, education levels of households, and the lagged per capita MSW. While both garbage fees and source separation programs have separately led to reductions in per capita waste generation, the interaction of the two policies has resulted in an increase in per capita waste generation due to the following crowding-out effects: Firstly, the positive effect of income dominates the negative effect of the garbage fee. Secondly, there are crowding-out effects of mandatory charging system and the subsidized voluntary source separation on per capita MSW generation. Thirdly, small subsidies and tax punishments have reduced the intrinsic motivation for voluntary source separation of MSW. Thus, compatible fee charging system, higher levels of subsidies, and well-designed public information and education campaigns are required to promote household waste source separation and reduction.

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“…In the empirical research literature there exists strong evidence that unit pricing affects household behaviour towards lower waste generation and/or increased recycling as discussed in chapter 6, e.g. Callan and Thomas (1997), Dijkgraaf and Gradus (2004), Ferrara and Missios (2005), Fullerton and Kinnaman (1996), Hong et al (1993), Hong (1999, Hong andAdams (1999), Jenkins (1993), Linderhof et al (2001), Nestor and Podolsky (1998), Spiegel (1998), andVan Houtven andMorris (1999) and Skumatz (2008). There are only a few empirical articles that do not find a clear positive behavioural effect on recycling from unit (marginal) pricing (e.g.…”

Section: User Fees For Collection Servicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the US, communities are increasingly charging for waste collection based on weight or volume of waste. According to Skumatz (2008), these programs are available to about 25% of the US population and about 26% of communities in the US -including 30% of the largest cities in the US. The first study to calculate empirically the elasticity of the price of waste upon waste quantities was conducted by Wertz (1976) for San Francisco.…”

Section: User Fees For Collection Servicesmentioning

confidence: 99%