Suggested further reading

Recyclanomics

Cliff Colquhoun and Warren Snow.

• "The aim of Recyclanomics is to show that based on the Far North experience there are compelling economic reasons to make recycling the key focus for local waste management strategies."
• "After 3 years of gathering financial data on the Far North's recycling and refuse disposal schemes which were both set up at the same time, we can say that the Kaitaia based recycling scheme is operationally a cheaper way to deal with waste than with straight waste disposal."
• Comparison - recycling system - $7.37 per m3 compared with waste disposal system costs of $12.28 m3 (not including savings in landfill costs which further reduces recycling system costs to $3.36 m3)

Recyclanomics: A study comparing the economics of recycling and conventional waste disposal in the Far North. (PDF 1.7 MB)

Creating Wealth from Waste

By Robin Murray, 1999.

Available from:
Demos
The Mezzanine, Elizabeth House, 39 York Rd,
London SE1 7NQ
Telephone: 0171 321 2200
Fax: 0171 321 2342
email: mail@demos.co.uk

Chapter 1: Beyond the Dustbin

"The new economy of waste... Three basic drivers of change are turning waste and waste management into a dynamic, fast changing, international economic sector. This transformation presents new choices and opportunities, and provides lessons and pointers for industrial, social and environmental policy in the new post-industrial landscape. The drivers are:
ii) growing concern about the hazards of waste disposal
ii) broader environmental concerns, especially global warming and resource depletion
iii ) economic opportunities created by new waste regulations and technological innovation

Chapter 4: Green Jobs

• "In Germany, the waste and recycling sector is bigger than either the steel or telecommunications."

Chapter 7: Perverse Markets

• "Conclusions: Our detailed study of intensive recycling and composting systems in Essex produced three main conclusions.

i) The economics of recycling do not depend on markets, price subsidies or recycling credits. Even if there was no income from materials, at current costs of landfill, the three stream system is cost neutral.
ii) The critical variables are the capture rate of organics and dry recyclables and the net costs of the three stream system. A local authority can control both these variables.
iii) An established intensive recycling system will cut overall waste management costs... This is Factor Four applied to waste management: halving disposal at half the system cost."

Chapter 14: A programme for Zero Waste 10 steps...

"1. The economic playing field must be rebalanced ... by revising waste taxes and public benefits.
2...waste taxes must be re-channelled into a Zero Waste fund.
3. Establish a Zero Waste Agency to administer transitional funds and 'animate' the change.
4. Founding a new type of Green Academy.
5. Appointing Zero Waste advisors. 6. The launch of a 'closed loop industrialisation' initiative
7. The extension of producer responsibility
8. Devolving responsibility for waste disposal to districts
9. Restoring public confidence in waste management and democratic risk taking
10. A government-led commitment to the Zero Waste target 'within a generation'

Re-inventing Waste

Re-inventing Waste - Towards a London Waste Strategy, 1998, Ecologika, UK
(Zero Waste New Zealand Trust has a copy)

Chapter 3 Sustainability: The Economic Case for Recycling

• "Recycling is a major generator of economic activity, to an extent that dwarfs the economic significance of other waste treatment options"
• "A study of 10 North Eastern American states calculated that recycling had added $7.2 billion in value to recovered materials through processing and manufacturing activities. 103,000 people were employed in recycling related industries in the region in 1991, 25% of them in processing and 75% in manufacturing (paper being the most important) (Weston 1994)."
• "Conclusions: There is an unambiguous case for the recycling intensive option from an economic, fiscal and social point of view. These have been largely ignored in the discussion to date, with the exception of LPAC who have placed them at the center of their strategic argument. This leaves the environmental question, which is the subject of the next chapter."

Chapter 11: The Economics of Recycling

• "The net costs of composting and recycling fall over time... Experience in Britain and overseas suggests that the net costs of recycling fall significantly within 5 years."
• "The larger the number of products collected, the lower the average cost per product. This is the result of...a consumer effect...a production effect."
• Material prices show a tendency to rise over time as recycling schemes are established.

Chapter 15: Green Jobs

• "For every 10,000 tonnes of material diverted from disposal by recycling, we see a net job gain of 21-39 jobs ... without yet including any remanufacturing and related employment."
• "London can create 7,000 recycling related jobs by 2002, and 14,000 jobs by 2007. 7000 jobs would inject an estimated 100 million pounds into the London economy. A multiplier of 1.5 would raise the job totals to 10,500 and 21,000 respectively, or to 14,000 and 28,000 with a multiplier of 2."

Recycling in Ohio

 A $22.5 billion success story

• "Ohio's $22.5 billion recycling industry is a success according to a report released by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. The report quantifies for the first time Ohio's economy benefits from recycling and reuse activities."
• The recycling industry supports 4.3 % of the jobs in Ohio
• 3.7% of Ohio's gross product is attributable to the recycling industry
• The average wage paid by Ohio's recycling industry is US$36,600
• The recycling industry's average wage is US$8,000 more than the State of Ohio's average wage

www.dnr.state.oh.us/recycling/pages/reis.htm for the full report.

US Recycling Economic Information Study

The REI Study is a multi-year project that was commissioned by EPA and numerous states through a cooperative agreement with the National Recycling Coalition (NRC) to assess the economic impact of reuse and recycling on the nation's economy.

The results of this ground-breaking study show that the U.S. reuse and recycling industry supports more than 56,000 establishments, employs over 1.1 million people, and grosses over $236 billion in annual revenues.

The REI Study verifies what many of us have known for some time: Recycling is Working.

US Recycling Economic Information Study (PDF 125 KB)

The Use of Economic Instruments in Environmental Policy: Opportunities and Challenges

A report by the United Nations Environment Programme.

This report aims to provide policy makers, especially in developing countries, with practical guidance on deciding which types of EIs are likely to work in addressing specific environmental problems. It describes how EIs modify incentives to pollute, the process of introducing EIs into the existing policy regime, the supporting conditions needed for them to work, and the potential effects of EIs on important societal factors such as poverty and sustainable development. The paper also introduces a number of template-based tools to assist policy makers assemble disparate data in a more efficient and structured way. These tools will enable policy makers to refine their understanding of a particular environmental challenge, to more quickly identify appropriate policy options, and to more effectively tailor these solutions to local conditions.

http://www.unep.ch/etu/publications/EconInst/red_book260304.pdf