RE: [GRRN] WASTE MERGERS MIGHT SLOW RECYCLING

William P. McGowan (6500kai@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu)
Tue, 13 Apr 1999 21:21:45 -0700 (PDT)


Margaret--

you are right, it is not that simple, but the Schump[eterian theme does
underlie the history of the waste service industry over the last
century--the subject of my dissertation and forthcoming book.

Do not forget the role that environmentalists played in creating the super
landfills--by pushing the barriers to entry so high that only the big boys
could play, and then making the siting of even a well design landfill
iffy, waste firms were forced to locate their new fills in places where
local resistance was nil and the upside substanial. Larger fills let them
spread costs over that many more years of capacity.

But you should take comfort, for if Schummpeter's theory continues to
hokld for the evolution of the waste industry, then some new form of
waste service firm is likely to emerge in the coming decades since the
concept of economies of scale in waste disposal is A MYTH

Bill McGowan
History UCSB
Rincon Recycling