Household Valuation of Curbside Recycling

Utah State University, Logan UT

Investigators

Abstract

Steady growth in per-capita municipal solid waste during the past two decades has spurred a dramatic increase in the number of curbside recycling programs nationwide. As a result, local planners have at their fingertips a wealth of information on the costs of operating a variety of curbside recycling programs. They do not, however, have comparable information on the willingness of households to pay for and participate in curbside recycling. This type of "benefit-side" information is crucial in estimating the extent to which household monthly fees in a given community might be increased in order to cover the costs of operating its curbside recycling program, as well as the effect that changes in the fee have on household participation rates. It is particularly useful information for communities that are seriously considering the implementation of a voluntary curbside recycling program, where a household pays for the service only if it has signed up for it. Using state-of-the-art contingent valuation methods, we will survey a large number of households across a wide variety of communities (e.g., those currently with and without curbside recycling) and curbside recycling programs (e.g., voluntary vs. mandatory programs). Our primary goal is to estimate the value of curbside recycling to a typical household. Using advanced econometric techniques, we will also estimate the effects that various household- and community-specific characteristics have on this value. This will be the largest and most accurate study of household recycling behavior to date. By incorporating the most recent advances in contingent valuation methods, our study will help advance the understanding of how best to elicit household information on environmental goods such as recycling. Most importantly, our results will provide local planners with valuable information regarding the benefits of recycling necessary to undertake cost-benefit analysis.