Abstract
Pay As You Throw (PAYT) policies are implemented worldwide to reduce waste. This paper estimates the effects of a PAYT policy in New Taipei City - per-bag trash collection fee (PBCF) program - on households' waste disposal. Under the PBCF, people have to buy certified bags for their unsorted waste, while sorted waste (food and recyclable waste) is disposed of for free. We apply a synthetic control method that allows cities/counties to have different trends in waste disposal. The estimation results using the city/county-level administrative data suggest that the PBCF decreases unsorted waste by about 27.2% and recyclable waste by about 20.8%. Food waste almost doubles in the short term, but the magnitude gradually reduces over time. Overall, the program reduces total waste by about 17.4%. These results suggest that waste avoidance behavior resulting from the PBCF appears not only in unsorted waste but also in recycling. Finally, we estimate that the welfare gain from the PBCF is about 30,000 NTD per household per year.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
