Improved cost planning for solid waste management in developing countries

The need for improved estimation and planning methods for solid waste management (SWM) is particularly strong in emerging economies such as India, China and Phillipines where problems are severe, expectations for improvements are high, but finances are constrained. An attempt has been made to relate the average costs of SWM using 200x, NIUA data from ... municipalities in India. The data were analysed for different population ranges. The data present high scatter but indicate no clear correlation between per ton or per capita costs and population, indicating no clear economy-of-scale. Stepwise multiple regression involving ... predictor variables was conducted on costs to detect any statistically significant correlations. It can be concluded that average costs on either a per ton or per capita basis are most influenced by the total number of staff employed in municipalities. This result is expected because SWM is a highly labour intensive activity in India. The analysis, although preliminary, can be useful as a planning tool for SW managers