Towards a circular economy for sustainable development: An application of full cost accounting to municipal waste recyclables

Abstract

From a circular economy perspective, the municipal waste (MW) sector remains a valuable input source for waste recyclable re-industrialization among food, pollution, and energy. In this study, different accounting approaches and scenarios for sustainable MW management are explored to find the most cost efficient and profitable approach. The Full Cost Accounting (FCA) method is adopted as the basis of analysis in this study where an integrated sustainable framework for the Pay-As-You-Throw (PAYT) pricing model is developed and designed that can optimize MW management in attaining ‘zero waste disposal’ at the lowest cost as well as generating economic, environmental and social benefits. Using waste management data from 27 councils in Egypt and two different PAYT methods (i.e. weight-based and volume-based) under three case scenarios, this study documents that the prepaid bag system under the volume-based PAYT method leads to the lowest waste costs and creates more incentives for households in terms of economic, social and environmental benefits. These findings have various implications for the policy makers, government councils, waste managers, businesses and communities in the adoption of volume based PAYT schemes for cost-effective, profitable and socially acceptable reusing and recycling of waste. Such valuable addition to MW management can contribute to the environmental and socially sustainable development in emerging markets and in moving towards a circular economy model.