| This paper presents a comprehensive economic analysis of recycling organic wastes through composting. A mathematical programming model is developed to examine the optimal level of compost production from sources of organic municipal solid waste, livestock manure and wastewater-treatment sludge. The model incorporates the spatial nature of the problem by referring to the locations of the sources for raw organic matter, of the composting plants and agricultural regions. Agricultural demand for compost is derived using estimated production functions for 42 crops, price elasticity of the vegetative agricultural outputs, and farmers' stated willingness to utilize compost. The model accounts for the costs of waste collection, compost production, transportation... |
