Optimisation of the economic, environmental and administrative efficiency of the municipal waste management model in rural areas

Abstract

The current paper focuses on the municipal waste management model optimisation in rural areas from the aspect of economic, environmental and administrative efficiency by case of Harju County municipalities in Estonia. The main problems and environmental impacts regarding waste management in rural areas arise from the administrative and logistical inefficiency which are expressed in high waste transportation costs, multiplicity of tasks of the public officers, unclear and unfair pricing formation, and municipality's low control over the municipal waste collection service. Although the waste hierarchy sets the preference of waste treatment operations, the environmental and economic feasibility may shuffle the priorities. In rural areas the transportation has a significant role in the environmental and economic impact of waste collection, and separate collection of some waste classes may turn economically and environmentally unfeasible. The administration of the waste management in the rural municipalities suffers from the lack of competence and financial resources. The objective of the research was to assess (1) the environmental and economic feasibility of source sorting paper and bio-waste in rural municipalities, (2) improvement of administrative efficiency, and economic cost-effectiveness resulting in reorganisation of waste management administration, and (3) optimisation options of the municipal waste collection logistics through inter-municipal waste collection districts. The results of the study show that in rural areas central collection of source sorted bio-waste is not economically and environmentally feasible, however the central collection of source sorted paper waste may be considered environmentally beneficial if applied through inter-municipal cooperation. This research introduces a new approach how to evaluate the potential feasibility of source sorting and central collection of paper and bio-waste in rural municipalities, and reveals the benefits of inter-municipal cooperation in terms of administrative, economic and logistical efficiency improvement. The model is applicable in any rural area where there is a potential for administrative cooperation between municipalities.