Monetary and environmental damage cost assessment of source-separated biowaste collection: Implications of new waste regulation in Finland

Abstract

This study develops a cost model covering monetary and environmental damage costs for source-separated biowaste collection. The model provides an improved basis for decision-making by including environmental damage costs compared to the assessment that considers the only monetary cost. The monetary cost calculation integrated route optimisation using existing road networks, while the environmental damage cost was estimated using the life cycle impact assessment method based on the endpoint (LIME) model. The model was tested in the Finnish case where the new law implements the stricter requirement for source-separated biowaste. The costs of collection, transportation and treatment of three different scenarios were assessed: mixed waste under the old law (MW-OL), biowaste under the new law (B-NL) and mixed waste without biowaste under the new law (MW-NL). The results showed the economic and environmental benefits of sourced separated biowaste. The overall cost of collection and transportation (CT) under the old law and new laws were 80.7 € Mg−1 and 81.1 € Mg−1, respectively. Treatment costs were 79 € Mg−1 and 64.8 € Mg−1 under the old and new laws, respectively. The damage costs for CT under the old and new laws were 0.23 € Mg−1 and 0.24 € Mg−1, respectively. At the same time, the damage costs from the treatment stage were 4.9 € Mg−1 and 3.5 € Mg−1 under the old law and new law, respectively. The model supports decision-making when the collection scheme requires a change. Failing to plan an optimised solution and cost will lead to inefficient systems.