The economic value of sustainable recycling and waste management policies: The case of a waste management crisis in South Korea

Abstract

The price of recyclable waste has declined, and China is refusing solid waste imports. As a result, recycling companies in South Korea are refusing to collect recyclable waste, which caused a solid waste management crisis in April 2018. Due to this crisis, many people are unable to discard their recyclable waste. This study aims to assess the economic value of a sustainable recycling and waste management policy to solve the waste management crisis. The analysis in this study is divided into two parts: The first part estimates the inconvenience costs to residents using a contingent valuation method, whereas the second part analyzes the preferences for a new policy using a mixed logit model with a choice experiment. The results show that mean willingness to pay (WTP) per household is 41,234 (USD 36.96) KRW/year; the total WTP would be able to increase the total disposal capacity by up to 4.51%. In addition, at an adequate price level for the policy alternative, the policy acceptance rate suggests that the price of biodegradable volume-rate disposal bags should increase by no more than KRW 66 (USD 0.06) per bag. This study provides guidance to policy makers who wish to consider both validity and acceptability.