Impact of the pricing policy on the environmental performance of urban waste management systems

Abstract

This PhD. thesis has as main objective the evaluation of the environmental impacts derived from the application of unit base (variable) pricing systems for financing urban waste management. To this purpose, a pilot experience with variable pricing schemes which took place in the Portuguese city of Aveiro was chosen as case of study. The evaluation was mainly performed making use of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) as an analytical tool for measuring environmental impacts. Both modelling approaches of LCA (attributional and consequential) were used in order to perform a comprehensive environmental comparison between the situation found in waste management before and after the pilot experience.