Impacts on Waste Disposal Costs and Capacity in VA
A qualitative evaluation of the proposed waste management legislation indicates that there will be several layers of economic impact within the Commonwealth if the Virginia General Assembly
- passes legislation that limits the capacity of landfills to 2000 tons per day, and simultaneously
- mandates the closing non-RCRA compliant landfills.
The cost per ton of disposing of municipal solid waste in Charles City County and the area surrounding it could increase by as much as a factor of two to four over 1998 costs. This is particularly true for those tons of municipal solid waste not under contract to a landfill at the time the legislation becomes effective.
Larger jurisdictions surrounding Charles City County that do not have their own landfill and are not under contract when the legislation becomes effective may find that sufficient capacity for their municipal and commercial solid waste does not exist within the region. They may find they need to increase the distance over which they transport their municipal solid waste for disposal. Disposal, wherever they find capacity, will cost significantly more due to escalated landfill disposal and additional hauling pricing
Due to decreased capacity and increased volumes of waste from Virginia jurisdictions, whose landfills have been closed, disposal costs for municipal solid waste, not under contract to a landfill, may double or triple, on a commonwealth-wide basis.
Redistribution of waste among regional facilities that are owned by the same entity would effectively remove even more capacity. As existing contracts to one facility are redistributed, replacing spot-market municipal solid waste at another will serve to place further escalation pressure on spot-market pricing. As contracts terminate, the demand for capacity will create pressure for the escalation of contract price both for Virginia and for out-of-state users.
Incineration may become cost competitive as landfill disposal pricing increases. Localities in northern and southeastern Virginia that have large incineration operations could see an increase in the flow of municipal solid waste into their communities both from in- and out-of-state sources.
Finally, many Virginian communities that find themselves subject to the spot market may need to transport their municipal solid waste to other regions or out-of-state, thus increasing the volume of municipal solid waste on the byways of the commonwealth.
In general, the citizens of Virginia may expect to pay considerably more for waste-management services due to the proposed legislation.
Since the cap forces the market place to decide who uses a given facility, it is possible that Virginians may find themselves paying considerably more to dispose of their waste while not markedly changing the volume of waste imported into the Commonwealth.
The previous case study is adapted from the executive summary of the report by Reif, M and Spear, J,
"Cost Impacts of Virginia Legislation." The report is available from Charles City County Department of Public Works, Jack Miniclier (804) 829-9206.
Contributed by Charles Carter