Working Paper No. 367: The Impact of population size and bin structure on the cost of municipal solid waste: evidence from Sweden and Norway

Abstract

Increasing waste levels, combined with ambitious environmental targets, are exerting upward pressures on the cost for municipal solid waste in many countries. The purpose of this study is to investigate what municipalities can do to counteract this development. We collect information about population, cost and waste from 225 Swedish and Norwegian municipalities and empirically investigate how waste bin structure/type of waste collection system and population affect municipalities’ waste cost. Results indicate that 4-compartment bins is the most expensive bin structure (+13%) and using the same bin types in detached and multi-family dwellings leads to coordination savings (-18%). The cost minimising population is slightly above 600,000 inhabitants. Several of the surveyed municipalities have substantially fewer inhabitants than that and cost per inhabitant can be reduced by up to 30% in several locations through collaborations with larger neighbours. In Sweden, transferring the responsibility for solid waste from the municipalities (290 in total) to the regions (20 in total) would eliminate almost all scale inefficiencies.