| GRN Recycle Talk FAQ Answer |
Date: Wed, 3 Jun 98 10:04 WET DST From: FRIEDMAN.FRED@EPAMAIL.EPA.GOV (Fred Friedman) Subject: Re: Success of mandatory recycling programs vs. voluntary ones (Paul Hamilton)
June 3, 1998
Dear Paul Hamilton,
The difficulty with comparisons made for you is whether the methodology truly meets your expecctations. I have seen too many studies in the waste management field which only looked to support the study comparison's conclusions
when the reader does not look at the methodology involved and ask, what, if any questions have been ommitted, which are necessary to truly answer the study's object?
That said, you can get a list of communities where mandatory recycling is or has been in force from the annual Recycling in the States update article in Waste Age magazine. The one I'm presently looking at is from the March, 1995 issue. Other articles include :
State Recycling Laws: Help or Hindrance, in Recycling Today, 2/93.
An Update on 18 Months of Mandatory Recycling, by Mary T. Sheil and Aletha Spang in NEW JERSEY MUNICIPALITIES, 10/88
The most recent literature on your question will emanate from Pay As You Throw communities, of which there are many in the US. Some will be highlighted in the EPA publications:
Pay-As-You-Throw: Lessons Learned About Unit Pricing, EPA 530-R-94-004, 4/94.
See also:
Market-Based Incentives and Residential Municipal Solid Waste by Marie Lynn Mirand, et. al., submitted to JOURNAL OF POLICY ANALYSIS AND MANAGEMENT, 11/11/93 (I don't know if/when it was published, but Ms. Miranda is from the Sanford Institute of Public Policy in Durham, NC).
Under What Conditions Should Cities Adopt Volume-Based Pricing for Residential Solid Waste Collection? by Daniel R. Blume, Duke University, Master's Memo Study for the Office of Management and Budget, Office of Information Regulatory Affairs.
PAYT programs do work to boost recycling and cut waste significantly. But PAYT programs may not be what you had in mind for mandatory programs.
- Research Library for RCRA