Determination of Diversion Credits for By-Product Reuse Activities

The concept of a diversion credit to encourage the use of products or services that have reusable by-products is introduced. A methodology is developed to assist municipal government authorities in determining an equitable level of compensation for business activities having by-product reuse, which results in reduced solid waste generation. The methodology is based on the quantities of solid waste diverted, such that the credit would be proportional to the costs that would have been incurred if by-product materials had been handled within the municipal waste management system. The methodology is applied to a hypothetical consumer products example.