Department of Economics and Management, Tel Hai Academic College, Upper Galilee 12210, Israel.
Waste Manag. 2010 Feb;30(2):338-45. doi: 10.1016/j.wasman.2009.09.026. Epub 2009 Nov 12.
The paper presents a full cost-benefit analysis of a deposit-refund program for beverage containers in Israel. We examine all cost elements of the program--storage, collection, and treatment costs of empty containers, and all potential benefits--savings in alternative treatment costs (waste collection and landfill disposal), cleaner public spaces, reduction of landfill volumes, energy-savings externalities associated with use of recycled materials, and creation of new workplaces. A wide variety of data resources is employed, and some of the critical issues are examined via several approaches. The main finding of the paper is that the deposit-refund program is clearly economically worthwhile. The paper contributes to the growing body of literature on deposit-refund programs by its complete and detailed analysis of all relevant factors of such a program, and also specifically in its analysis of the savings in alternative waste management costs. This analysis reveals greater savings than are usually assumed, and thus shows the deposit-refund program to be highly efficient.
本文对以色列饮料容器押金退款计划进行了全面的成本效益分析。我们考察了该计划的所有成本要素——空容器的储存、收集和处理成本，以及所有潜在的收益——替代处理成本（废物收集和垃圾填埋处置）的节约、更清洁的公共空间、减少垃圾填埋量、使用回收材料产生的节能外部性，以及创造新的工作岗位。本文使用了各种各样的数据资源，并通过多种方法研究了一些关键问题。本文的主要结论是，押金退款计划在经济上是完全值得的。本文通过对押金退款计划的所有相关因素进行全面、详细的分析，为不断增长的押金退款计划文献做出了贡献，特别是在分析替代废物管理成本节约方面。这一分析显示出比通常假设的更大的节约，从而表明押金退款计划具有很高的效率。
