Does municipal solid waste composting make economic sense?

Journal Article · Sat Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1998 · Journal of Environmental Management

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1006/jema.1998.0214· OSTI ID:290226

Renkow, M; Rubin, A R ^[1]

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1. North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC (United States)

Currently there is a widespread interest on the part of local governments in incorporating municipal solid waste (MSW) composting into their integrated solid waste management systems. However, there is little information on the costs of MSW composting and how those costs compare with the costs of alternative forms of waste disposal (especially traditional land disposal). This article begins to fill this information gap by reporting the results of a survey of 19 MSW compositing facilities around the US. Results indicate that MSW composting generally costs around $50 per ton, and that very few facilities receive any revenues from the sale of compost to offset operating costs. Additional economic analysis indicates that, at present, MSW composting cannot be justified on financial grounds in most parts of the US, but may be competitive with land disposal where the cost of landfilling is high (such as the north-east).

• OSTI ID: 290226
• Journal Information: Journal of Environmental Management, Journal Name: Journal of Environmental Management Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 53; ISSN JEVMAW; ISSN 0301-4797
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
COMPOSTING
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
MUNICIPAL WASTES
SOLID WASTES
WASTE MANAGEMENT