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A Cost Analysis of Food Waste Composting in Taiwan

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  • Yi-Tui Chen

    (Department of Health Care Management, National Taipei University of Nursing and Health Sciences, Taipei 11219, Taiwan)

Abstract

Taiwan’s Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) has enacted a food waste recycling policy since 2003 as an alternative of landfill and incineration for the final disposal of municipal solid waste. Recycled food waste is currently seen as a valuable material, especially when appropriate technology is developed. This paper conducts a cost/benefit analysis based on six cases of food waste composting plants in Taiwan, finding that (1) the composting of food waste may yield the most net benefit compared to other applications of today; (2) the production cost of compost ranges from NT$ 2897–23,117/tonne; (3) the adoption of more automatic technology may reduce operation costs and, thus, a closed composting system with mechanical aeration may be more cost effective; (4) the output is a determinant of affecting production costs and private firms are more competitive in production costs than government-affiliated composting units; (5) all of the government-affiliated composting units face a negative profit and thus they are required to make use of the market value of the produced compost to achieve economic viability; and (6) a subsidy to the compost producer is needed to expand the market demand as the food waste recycled can save the disposal cost of municipal solid waste (MSW) incineration.

Suggested Citation

  • Yi-Tui Chen, 2016. "A Cost Analysis of Food Waste Composting in Taiwan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(11), pages 1-13, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:8:y:2016:i:11:p:1210-:d:83420
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    1. Nam Phong Le & Thi Thu Phuong Nguyen & Dajian Zhu, 2018. "Understanding the Stakeholders’ Involvement in Utilizing Municipal Solid Waste in Agriculture through Composting: A Case Study of Hanoi, Vietnam," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-32, July.
    2. Wen-Tien Tsai, 2020. "Turning Food Waste into Value-Added Resources: Current Status and Regulatory Promotion in Taiwan," Resources, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-11, April.
    3. Jian Wong, Khai & Keat Ooi, Jun & Sin Woon, Kok & Ren Mong, Guo & Shadman, Saleh & Lam Ng, Wai, 2022. "A country-level Pareto-optimal palm waste utilisation network for economic and environmental sustainability," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    4. Hatice Türkten, 2023. "Impact of Revenue Generated via Composting and Recycling of Wastes Produced in the Greenhouse Tomato Supply Chain on Reducing Income Inequality: A Case Study of Türkiye," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-12, September.
    5. Roy, E. D. & Esham, M. & Jayathilake, Nilanthi & Otoo, M. & Koliba, C. & Wijethunga, I. B. & Fein-Cole, M. J., 2021. "Compost quality and markets are pivotal for sustainability in circular food-nutrient systems: a case study of Sri Lanka," Papers published in Journals (Open Access), International Water Management Institute, pages 1-5:748391..
    6. Nour El Houda Chaher & Mehrez Chakchouk & Nils Engler & Abdallah Nassour & Michael Nelles & Moktar Hamdi, 2020. "Optimization of Food Waste and Biochar In-Vessel Co-Composting," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-20, February.
    7. Quetzalli Aguilar-Virgen & Paul Taboada-González & Eduardo Baltierra-Trejo & Liliana Marquez-Benavides, 2017. "Cutting GHG Emissions at Student Housing in Central Mexico through Solid Waste Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-12, August.
    8. Alina Zaharia & Maria-Claudia Diaconeasa & Natalia Maehle & Gergely Szolnoki & Roberta Capitello, 2021. "Developing Sustainable Food Systems in Europe: National Policies and Stakeholder Perspectives in a Four-Country Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-40, July.
    9. Jean Pierre Doussoulin, 2019. "A paradigm of the circular economy: the end of cheap nature?," Post-Print hal-02542701, HAL.
    10. Albert Banunle & Bernard Fei-Baffoe & Kodwo Miezah & Nana Ewusi-Mensah & Uffe Jørgensen & Robert Aidoo & Alice Amoah & Patrick Addo-Fordjour & Robert Clement Abaidoo, 2024. "Economic Viability Assessment of Small-Scale Biomass Composting Project Within a Developing Country Context," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 4(2), pages 951-971, June.

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