for the period 01/01/2000 to 12/31/2000

  CRIS Research Reports In-Progress for CAL1 - Agricultural Exp Sta Univ of
                             California Berkeley

AD-421 Reports in-Progress for CAL1 as of 03/16/2001
for GOLDMAN, G. by Project Number

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 Project Number: CA-B*-AEC-6266-RR
 CRIS Number: 0174569
 Multi-State Project: W-162

 RURAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: ALTERNATIVES IN THE NEW COMPETITIVE
 ENVIRONMENT

 Investigators: Goldman, G. E.

 Performing Department: AGRICULTURAL AND RESOURCE ECON -- 8272

 Start Date: 10/01/1997 Termination Date: 09/30/2002
 Reporting period: 01/01/2000 to 12/31/2000

 Progress Report:
 This project is the first attempt to estimate the economic impacts of the
 waste disposal and diversion system in California. The study develops a
 general model of the flow of selected disposed and diverted materials in
 the state, and uses economic impact analysis software to estimate
 statewide and regional economic impacts (in terms of total sales,
 value-added activity, and jobs) for disposal and diversion activities.
 While individual impacts for jurisdictions will vary because of
 differences in material flows and business and industrial infrastructures,
 generally, diversion in California generates large economic impacts. The
 economic impacts from diversion and disposal at 1999 rates are 16-19%
 higher than the impacts if all the waste was disposed. The study also
 looked at the economic impacts in six regions of California. Waste
 diversion and disposal at 1999 rates have stimulated the regional
 economies more than if all the generation had gone to disposal-only in all
 regions but the Eastern California Region. The cost advantages for
 diverted materials come partly from the saving of landfill fees. The added
 positive impacts of diversion come from sales of the separated materials,
 their processing into feedstock, sales of energy for transformation and
 biomass products, and the value added in manufacturing that uses recycled
 feedstock. Typically, for every marginal ton of waste disposed in 1999, we
 estimate that $108 in total income impacts and $144 in value-added impacts
 would have been generated in the state economy. Whereas, for every
 marginal ton of waste diverted, $206 in total income impacts and $286 in
 value-added impacts would be generated. The value-added impact measures
 the increase in the value of goods and services sold by all sectors of the
 economy minus the costs of inputs (excluding labor) used by the sectors in
 producing the goods or providing the services. Also, 2.46 total jobs would
 have been created in the economy for every marginal 1,000 tons of waste
 disposed, while 4.67 jobs would be created if the same volume of waste had
 been diverted as recyclables. The economic impacts from diversion are the
 highest in the Central Valley and Southern California Regions. These
 regions have more business and industrial infrastructure relative to other
 regions, and a high percentage of output generated in the waste industries
 are re-spent in the same regions. Relatively more recycling manufacturers
 are located in these regions, and they create more value-added and jobs
 within the regions. In both the Central Valley and Southern California
 Region, total output impacts are over $250 per ton more when the waste is
 diverted than disposed. The economic impacts presented in this study are a
 good but conservative estimate. The report is under review by the State of
 California Integrated Waste Management Board and will be published soon.

 Publications:
 (No publications reported.)

 Impact:
 This project demonstated the positive economic impact in California, and
 the regions of California, of diversion, as opposed to disposal, of waste
 material. This has important policy implications for diversion and
 recycling activities in the state.
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