title: Does recyclable separation reduce the cost of municipal waste management in Japan?
abstract: Municipal solid waste (MSW) management is a system involving multiple sub-systems that typically require demanding inputs, materials and resources to properly process generated waste throughput. For this reason, MSW management is generally one of the most expensive services provided by municipalities. In this paper, we analyze the Japanese MSW management system and estimate the cost elasticity with respect to the waste volumes at three treatment stages: collection, processing, and disposal. Although we observe economies of scale at all three stages, the collection cost is less elastic than the disposal cost. We also examine whether source separation at home affects the cost of MSW management. The empirical results show that the separate collection of the recyclable fraction leads to reduced processing costs at intermediate treatment facilities, but does not change the overall waste management cost. Our analysis also reveals that the cost of waste management systems decreases when the service is provided by private companies through a public tender. The cost decreases even more when the service is performed under the coordination of adjacent municipalities.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Environmental Science and Technology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Edifici Z, 08193 Bellaterra, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Rosaria
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chifari
authors.affiliation: Institute for Environmental Science and Technology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Edifici Z, 08193 Bellaterra, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Samuele
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lo Piano
authors.affiliation: Department of Economics, Aoyama Gakuin University, Room 828 Building 8, 4-4-25 Shibuya, Shibuya, Tokyo 150-8366, Japan. Electronic address: shmatsumoto@aoyamagakuin.jp.
authors.forename: Shigeru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.affiliation: Center for Material Cycles and Waste Management Research, National Institute for Environmental Studies, 16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8506, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomohiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tasaki
mesh_terms: D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D007564:Japan; D059027:Recycling / Q000191:economics*; D012037:Refuse Disposal / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods; D062611:Solid Waste / Q000032:analysis* / Q000191:economics; D018505:Waste Management / Q000191:economics*
chemical_list: D062611:Solid Waste
keywords: Japan; Municipal solid waste management cost; Source separation; Treatment stage