The 1993 Virginia General Assembly passed House Joint Resolution 494 establishing a joint subcommittee to study issues surrounding the privatization of solid waste management. Among the committee's findings was that localities vary in the costs they assign to solid waste management. This can have a significant impact on a locality's analysis of whether to continue with public provision of service or to seek privatization. The committee did not believe there should be a mandatory system for determining these costs. It did believe that an outline of solid waste management costs, drawn from those identified by localities and private industry, would be useful to localities in determining the true cost of solid waste operations.

The committee divided the analysis of solid waste management costs into two areas; collection and disposal. Collection includes the costs associated with collection of solid waste and recyclables. Additional costs associated with recycling such as sorting, processing and marketing are not included. Disposal costs are allocated into the six categories: 1) pre-development, 2) initial construction, 3) annual operation, 4) continued development, 5) closure and, 6) post-closure. This outline assumes waste will be disposed of in a landfill. However, the analysis will be helpful if another option, such as incineration, is under consideration. The committee has not addressed the impact of potential revenue generating activities such as energy production from methane or the sale of recyclables.

The committee decided not to assign specific figures or ranges of figures to each expense. Characteristics unique to each locality or region may produce significant variations that will have an impact on each expense.

The potential cost of consultants, who may be used for any aspect listed below is not included in this work sheet. Use of consultants by a locality will depend on the specific requirements of each project and the needs of the locality. Consideration of consultant fees and the direct and indirect costs of consultant selection should not be overlooked.

Several formats for this document were reviewed. The "worksheet" format that is used in this document is the easiest to follow. However, this work sheet should not be considered a substitute for a local authority's own calculation and analysis.