10.2190/VU69-KGCM-R31Y-CL38 VU69KGCMR31YCL38 1 On-Site Recycling of Hazardous Waste Solvents 1 21 20020509 20020509 20020509 20020509 VU69KGCMR31YCL38.pdf http://baywood.metapress.com/link.asp?target=contribution&id=VU69KGCMR31YCL38 1 Seymour I. Schwartz Wendy B. Pratt Donald R. McCubbin University of California, Davis This article examines the economic desirability of on-site recycling in two situations widely experienced by small and medium-sized firms that generate hazardous waste. We define baseline conditions with and without the recycling device, and calculate the net present value and rate-of-return for the device; we then apply sensitivity analysis and break-even analysis to examine how good the device is under conditions that depart from the baseline. Results show that the device is very profitable for firms generating 100 gallons of solvent per month but for firms using only 20 or 30 gallons per month of solvent (auto repair shops) the device is not economically desirable under some conditions. We examine policy measures for enhancing the desirability of the device-free collection of distillation residuals, grants to reduce the capital cost of the equipment, and an investment tax credit-and find that these measures can make the device an attractive investment in situations where it would not be attractive without incentives. S. I. Schwartz and W. B. Pratt, <i>Hazardous Waste from Small Quantity Generators: Strategies and Solutions for Business and Government</i>, Island Press, Washington, D. C., 1990. 40 CFR Section 260.10. California Department of Health Services (DHS), <i>Recycling of Hazardous Wastes in California</i>, California DHS, Alternative Technology Section, Sacramento, January 1988. R. Tresson, personal communication with D. R. McCubbin, January 23, 1989. P. G. Sassone and M. V. Martucci, Industrial Energy Conservation: The Reasons Behind the Decisions, <i>Energy, 9</i>, pp. 427-437, 1984. R. R. Nelson and S. G. Winter, <i>An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change</i>, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1982. S. I. Schwartz, et al., <i>Managing the Electronics Industry's Hazardous Wastes: Technology and Economics of Alternatives to Land Disposal</i>, report to the California Legislature and the California Department of Health Services, University of California, Davis, July 1985. Anonymous interview with member of the technical staff, U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, conducted by W. B. Pratt, December 1989. Data on capital and operation costs of small and medium-sized solvent recycling devices is from Finish Engineering, Erie, Pennsylvania, and Siva International, San Francisco, California; interviews conducted by D. R. McCubbin and from printed sales information. E. Stokey and R. Zeckhauser, <i>A Primer for Policy Analysis</i>, W. W. Norton, New York, 1978. S. I. Schwartz, Recycling and Incineration of Hazardous Waste Solvents: Economic and Policy Aspects, <i>Solvent Waste Reduction Alternatives Symposia, Conference Proceedings</i>, ICF Consulting Associates, Los Angeles, California, p. 113, October 1986. B. Piasecki and G. Davis, <i>America's Future in Toxic Waste Management: Lessons from Europe</i>, Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut, 1987.