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The municipal waste industry contributes more than $3 billion a year to the economy of Pennsylvania.
The industry accounts for nearly 31,500 jobs and $904 million in annual employee earnings statewide.
The businesses involved in the collection, transport, and disposal of municipal solid waste together represent a “key component of the overall Pennsylvania economy,” according to the Econsult Corporation, an independent firm that in 2007 conducted an economic impact study for the Pennsylvania Waste Industries Association.
The slightly more than $3 billion in economic value the industry generates includes:
- Direct expenditures.
- Spending or purchases stimulated by industry activity.
- Spending driven by industry-paid wages.
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Northcentral |
Northeast |
Northwest |
Southcentral |
Southeast |
Southwest |
| Annual Economic Impact |
$83.5 million |
$520.5 million |
$167.6 million |
$461
million |
$919.4 million |
$514.2 million |
| Jobs |
1,019 |
5,346 |
1,693 |
5,280 |
9,407 |
5,556 |
| Employee Earnings |
$26.5 million |
$158.8 million |
$48.7 million |
$148.9 million |
$262.4 million |
$161.1 million |
According to Econsult, these dollar amounts represent "economic benefits that would be absent without the municipal waste industry."
In addition to its economic impact, the waste industry adds another $180.1 million to state and local revenues in the form of state trash taxes and municipal host payments.
The industry pays state taxes and makes local payments totaling $8.58 per ton of waste disposed:
- $2 per ton in state trash taxes to support recycling.
- $4.25 per ton in state trash taxes to support Growing Greener environmental programs.
- An average of $2.33 in municipal host payments (in the case of landfills) to localities, which in turn generally use the revenue to hold down property and other taxes on residents.
Overall, the industry pays $131.2 million per year in trash taxes to the state and $48.9 million in host payments to municipalities.
Read the full economic impact report
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