This study examines the effect of landfill scarcity on the cost of municipal solid waste (MSW) disposal. We find the evidence that a decrease in the remaining capacity of landfill sites increases the unit cost of waste disposal. We also find that landfill scarcity impacts intermediate disposal costs (the cost of MSW disposal methods other than landfill disposal) more than landfill disposal costs. Based on the results of previous studies that estimated the external costs of landfills, the cost reduction effect of having a landfill site may overwhelm the external costs. Our results demonstrate that having its own landfill site not only provides the final recipient of MSW but also reduces the cost of MSW disposal. The latter type of benefit has been overlooked in previous studies on MSW disposal.

本研究探讨了垃圾填埋场稀缺对城市固体废物（MSW）处置成本的影响。我们发现有证据表明，垃圾填埋场剩余容量的减少会增加废物处理的单位成本。我们还发现，垃圾填埋场稀缺对中间处置成本（垃圾填埋处置以外的城市固体废弃物处理方法的成本）的影响大于垃圾填埋处置成本。根据之前估算垃圾填埋场外部成本的研究结果，拥有垃圾填埋场的成本降低效果可能会压倒外部成本。我们的结果表明，拥有自己的垃圾填埋场不仅可以提供城市固体废物的最终接收者，还可以降低城市固体废物处置的成本。先前关于城市固体废物处置的研究忽略了后一种好处。