The most common means for disposing of municipal solid waste is burial in a sanitary landfill. However, many landfill owners significantly underestimate the total cost of landfill disposal by considering only land and operating costs, ignoring external physical and social costs associated with landfills. This paper proposes an approach to estimating (in monetary terms) the external costs arising from the development and operation of a landfill. All cost information is based on typical U.S. landfill cost structures. The approach is illustrated by applying it to a case study of a proposed landfill in Durham, North Carolina (U.S.A.). This case study demonstrates that the method can be applied easily and yields reasonable results.
Augenstein, D.C. (1990) Greenhouse effect contributions from U.S. landfill methane. In Proceedings from the GRCDA 13th Annual International Landfill Gas Symposium, March 27-29, 1990, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.
5.
Baccini, P., Henseler, G., Figi, R. & Belevi, H. (1987) Water and element balances of municipal solid waste landfills. Waste Management & Research5 (4), 483-499.
6.
Carter, C.P. (1989) A review of sanitary landfill impacts on property values. The Real Estate Assessor and Analyst Spring, 1989.
7.
Dunbar, F.C. & Berkman, M.P. (1987) Sanitary landfills are too cheap!Waste Age18 (5, May), 91-99.
8.
Emberton, J.R. & Parker, A. (1987) The problems associated with building on landfill sites. Waste Management & Research5 (4), 473-482.
9.
Freeman, A.M. (1979) The benefits of environmental improvement. Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.: Johns Hopkins University Press.
10.
Gamble, H.B., Downing, Ii R., Shorte, J.S. & Epp, D.K. (1982) Effects of solid waste disposal sites on community development and residential property values. Institute for Research on Land and Water Resources, The Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA, U.S.A.
11.
Glebs, R.T. (1988) Subtitle D: How will it affect landfills? WasteAlternatives1 (3), 56-64.
12.
Gunnerson, C.G. & Jones, D.C. (1984) Costing and cost recovery for waste disposal and recycling. Waste Management & Research2 (2), 107-118.
13.
Hirshfeld, S.S. (1989) Assessing the true cost of landfills. M.S. Thesis , Duke University, Durham, N.C. , U.S.A.
14.
Johnson, D.I. (1986) Caps: the long haul. Waste Age17 (3, March), 83-89.
Lang, R. (1990) Equity in siting solid waste management facilities . Plan Canada30 (2), 5-13.
17.
Mozzon, D., Brown, D.A. & Smith, J.W. (1987) Occupational exposure to airborne dust, respirable quartz and metals arising from refuse handling, burning, and landfilling. American Industrial Hygiene Association Journal48 (2, February), 111-116.
18.
O'Hare, M. (1977) "Not on my block you don't": facility siting and the strategic importance of compensation. Public Policy25 (4, Fall), 407-458.
19.
Pettit, C.L. & Johnson, C. (1987) The impact on property values of solid waste facilities . Waste Age18 (4, April), 97-102.
20.
Price, J.R. (1988) Report: the impact of waste facilities on real estate values. Waste Management & Research6 (4), 393-400.
21.
Robinson, H. (1987) Design and operation of leachate control measures at Compton Basset Landfill Site, Wiltshire, U.KWaste Management & Research5 (2), 107-122.
Tchobanoglous, G., Thiesen, H. & Eliassen, R. (1977) Solid wastes: engineering principles and management issues. Water Resources and Environmental Engineering Series . New York, U.S.A.: McGraw-Hill, Inc.
24.
Usepa (1975) Measuring external effects of solid waste management. R. Schmalensee , R. Ramanathan, W. Ramm & D. Smallwood , eds. March 1975. NTIS, PB-251161, U.S.A.
25.
Vesilind, P.A. & Rimer, A.E. (1981) Unit operations in resource recovery engineering. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, U.S.A.: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
26.
Wilson, D.C. (1981) Waste management: planning evaluation, technologies. New York, U.S.A.: Oxford University Press.
27.
Zeiss, C. & Atwater, J. (1987) Waste facilities in residential communities: impacts and acceptance. Journal of Urban Planning and Development113 (1, May), 19-34.
