Effectiveness of unit-based pricing of waste in the Netherlands: Applying a general equilibrium model

The Impact of Pay-As-You-Throw Schemes on Municipal Solid Waste Management: The Exemplar Case of the County of Aschaffenburg, Germany

“…Waste management policies include a range of complementary measures such as regulatory, economic, educational, and informative instruments [1,2]. The aim of an economic instrument is to persuade waste producers to divert waste from landfill or incineration towards material recovery, in order to optimise the use of resources while contributing to the costs of the waste management service.…”

“…However, in the context of municipal solid waste management, the "Pay-As-You-Throw" (PAYT) approach (also known as unit pricing [3] and differential and variable rate or variable fee charge systems [1,2]) is an economic instrument that applies the "polluter pays" principle at the municipal level by charging inhabitants according to the amount of waste they send for third party management [4]. Technical implementation of the PAYT approach is based on the following three pillars: identification of the waste generator, measurement of the amount of waste sent for treatment, and unit pricing, e.g., per kg and/or per emptying.…”

“…The County of Aschaffenburg consists of 32 municipalities and has about 173,000 inhabitants and a population density of 247 inhabitants per km 2 . Until the early 1990s, untreated waste was landfilled.…”

Review of household solid waste charges for developing countries – A focus on quantity-based charge methods

“…The waste amount is measured on the basis of weight, volume (can, bag, tag/sticker) and frequency (Andersen et al, 1997;Diaz et al, 2005). This method is popular in many countries due to its ability to give a clear price signal hence encouraging households to reduce their waste (Andersen et al, 1997;Ayalon et al, 2013;Chang et al, 2008;IADB, 2003;Sakai et al, 2008;USEPA, 2001;van Beukering et al, 2009). Yet, the success of this method depends on the availability of a complimentary recyclable waste collection service.…”

“…According to recent literature in developed countries, both weight-based and volume-based methods perform well (Dijkgraaf and Gradus, 2004;Van Beukering et al, 2009;Miranda et al, 1994). Frequency based charging method, which is used in some municipalities in Netherland (Dijkgraaf and Gradus, 2004), is attached with higher service cost and complexities (Dresner and Ekins, 2010) hence not suitable for developing countries where sophisticate waste collection service is lacking.…”