An analysis of municipal solid waste discards in Taiwan based on consumption expenditure and policy interventions

This paper presents a quantitative methodology and an empirical case study in Taiwan on modelling municipal solid waste (MSW) discards based on the consumption and MSW policy effects through a simultaneous equation system (SES) model. The results indicate that per capita consumption expenditures on 'food', 'household appliances' and 'amusement & education' are associated with the changes of the discards of most of the waste streams in Taiwan from 1992 to 2004. The developed model, meanwhile, identifies the effects of several important MSW policy measures. With regard to the model implication, consumers could try to reduce their unnecessary consumption, producers may rethink their responsibility on reducing MSW discards, and municipalities could evaluate the effectiveness of the existing policy measures to improve it upon based on the quantitative analysis. The backcasts and estimates of the discards of MSW streams could enable the planning, designing and executing of MSW system. The findings of this study would facilitate the consumer behaviour and support the policy design towards a low-waste-discard society.