GENERATION OF RECYCLABLES BY RURAL HOUSEHOLDS

Abstract

Rising landfill costs have forced solid waste managers to consider ways to reduce the waste stream. Using survey data, models explaining the weight of recyclables generated by households are estimated for paper and glass. Results indicate that households respond to the time cost of recycling paper but not glass. The waste generation models imply total monthly willingness to pay for recycling is $5.78 per household. Waste managers may increase the weight of recycled waste stream with programs which lower perceived time costs of nonrecyclers and improve the efficiency of recyclers.