Systems and economic analysis of municipal solid and hazardous waste management

A wide variety of alternative programs and technologies are available for managing solid wastes. From this variety arises the question of how to choose the policies and technologies that will work together to best meet a community's waste management needs. A set of tools are developed that allow quantitative analysis of solid waste management policies, operations, and potential innovations.; First, an economic model is used to demonstrate that it is most economically efficient to charge the marginal cost of waste management services at the point of disposal. It is shown that frequently proposed policy alternatives: virgin material taxes, minimum recycled content, and retail disposal charges, are not sufficient to eliminate market distortions caused by average cost pricing of wastemanagement services and their use introduces additional inefficiencies.; Second, optimal control theory is applied to managing waste decomposition in landfills through leachate recycle. The technique minimizes net present cost of landfill post-closure operations while satisfying landfill liner safety constraints. The optimal control method developed specifies leachate recycle rates and the optimal leachate collection and distribution system capacities. The approach is demonstrated for a typical excavated cell landfill.; Third, existing and alternative household hazardous waste (HHW) management programs are examined and methods of applying control measures to reduce the risks of using, storing, and disposing of HHW are suggested. The cost and performance of existing HHW education and collection programs are analyzed. Incentive-based measures are found to be promising for control of HHW use and disposal.; Fourth, use of the zonal travel cost method to develop a demand curve and consumer surplus estimate for household hazardous waste collection and disposal services in King County, Washington is demonstrated. The travel cost derived consumer surplus estimate is compared to a consumer surplus estimate derived from a preliminary contingent valuation survey. The travel cost estimate of consumer surplus is found to be more than the contingent valuation estimate and significantly less than the cost of household hazardous waste collection in King County during 1993.; Finally, conclusions about the benefits and limitations of applying systems analysis in the solid waste field are presented.