Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 3 of 3
Full-Text Articles in Engineering
Cost Effectiveness Of Recycling: A Systems Model, David J. Tonjes, Sreekanth Mallikarjun
Cost Effectiveness Of Recycling: A Systems Model, David J. Tonjes, Sreekanth Mallikarjun
Technology & Society Faculty Publications
Financial analytical models of waste management systems have often found that recycling costs exceed direct benefits, and in order to economically justify recycling activities, externalities such as household expenses or environmental impacts must be invoked. Certain more empirically based studies have also found that recycling is more expensive than disposal. Other work, both through models and surveys, have found differently. Here we present an empirical systems model, largely drawn from a suburban Long Island municipality. The model accounts for changes in distribution of effort as recycling tonnages displace disposal tonnages, and the seven different cases examined all show that curbside …
Degradable Plastics And Solid Waste Management Systems, David J. Tonjes, Krista L. Thyberg
Degradable Plastics And Solid Waste Management Systems, David J. Tonjes, Krista L. Thyberg
Technology & Society Faculty Publications
Plastics, which are woven into the fabric of modern life, have consequential impacts on the environment. Many of these are associated with end-of-lifetime processes, and include chemical contamination of the environment and effects from litter. Plastics also complicate waste management processes, causing contamination in composting operations, and having poor recovery rates through recycling. Plastics that are not as biologically recalcitrant, that decompose when use is done, have been perceived as solutions to at least some of these problems. The first generation of degradable plastics did not meet marketing claims; some of the more recent formulations, partly as a consequence of …
Municipal Waste Management: Suffolk County Municipal Systems, Services And Infrastructure, Krista L. Greene, Susan Lienau, David J. Tonjes
Municipal Waste Management: Suffolk County Municipal Systems, Services And Infrastructure, Krista L. Greene, Susan Lienau, David J. Tonjes
Technology & Society Faculty Publications
This report describes the municipal waste management systems used by local governments to manage solid waste in Suffolk County, Long Island, New York. There are ten Towns that serve as the primary planners for waste systems in Suffolk County. Many of the 33 villages in Suffolk County have established their own waste management programs and policies. All programs tend to follow the same general plan of the approaches used by their respective Towns, however. All programs provide some degree of recycling services, although the scope of the services varies tremendously.