Cost Benefit Analysis

Creating a mechanism for tracking cost benefits is an important tool for providing support for recycling and waste reduction efforts. Having hard data like this can keep programs alive as administrators like to see a hard benefit from campus recycling efforts. Additionally, proposed cost benefits can be a key point in validating the existence of recycling programs. Traditional cost benefits of recycling include cost avoidance and revenue. How much would it have cost to dispose of materials in the landfill? How much are tipping fees? How much per ton, does the University spend on managing garbage? How much money does the program make in revenue from marketing materials?

Additionally, at the University of Oregon, savings from the reusable office supply exchange and surplus furniture exchange are included in these figures. Savings from department purchases of recycling equipment, donations to the program and other areas where departments financially assist in the recycling effort, all are included in the cost benefit analysis at the UO. There are many ways to do this. The thing to remember is to at least include something on cost avoidance and revenue. This is important information to document and present. It makes administrators see that there is a direct economic benefit to investing in a campus recycling effort, whether the amount is accepted as a true savings or not. Be aware that there are fixed costs in collecting garbage that exist whether you throw out 10 or 100 tons. Documenting savings from trash disposal labor is a tricky argument but nonetheless, cost avoidance from tipping fees is a hard fact. Also, calculate and document annual environmental savings from recycling from the chart listed below. Here are some examples of how cost benefits are documented:

UO cost benefit numbers
UO cost benefit charts
Humboldt State University cost benefit information
General environmental savings from recycling

E.I.C    UO Home    Facilities    Others    Sitemap    Contact Us  UO Printshop