ABSTRACT
There is reason for accepting the hypothesis that such quality variables as collection frequency and pickup location have significant positive cost effects. For a random sample cross section of Bavaria, it was found that the costs of operating a solid waste collection system tend to be less for a private firm under contract to the community than for a municipally operated system. This result seems to be supported by two cases studies that have been conducted for two Bavarian cities, Munich and Passau. In Munich, the authors observe municipal and contract refuse collection in parallel operation though altogether municipal collection is clearly dominating. In Passau, they had municipal refuse collection up to 1973 and then a switch to contract collection thereafter. In both cases, they observed rather consistently over time a 10% to 15% higher average cost per ton collected for the municipal collector. Thus, managerial factors appear as a major cause of cost variations in solid waste collection.
