The Catalan Association of Municipalities for door-to-door separate waste collection commissioned a study in 2012 to ENT to provide local authorities with accurate information about the costs of waste management. The report addresses this issue from a holistic perspective, and makes a comparison between the costs of door-to-door collection compared to bring schemes. It is based on real data collected from 81 Catalan municipalities that have up to 20,000 inhabitants. To carry out comparisons, various indicators are proposed and calculated. Results of the study show that there are no significant differences between the two models in terms of overall cost management (including collection costs, treatment costs and associated revenues from waste management). Neither is there a significant influence on the overall management costs from the municipality size. The cost of collection is the largest contributor to the overall cost, particularly in door-to-door schemes. However, in this model, the difference is offset by lower treatment costs and higher revenues thanks to higher separate collection levels.
The report provides accurate information for municipalities, which can help them take more informed decisions about the feasibility of implementing one collection model or another.
Fundació ENT
2013
Associació de Municipis Catalans per la Recollida Selectiva Porta a Porta