An Economic Assessment of a DRS for PET Bottles
In Jamaica, recuperation of PET bottles from the waste stream for processing and export to be recycled is currently estimated to be five to ten percent. One of our recent studies, which assessed various measures for PET waste management, recommended that a deposit-refund system (DRS) be considered to increase recuperation, and improve management, of PET waste in Jamaica. This study's analysis revealed that it is evident that the economic benefits of a DRS largely outweigh the costs, and should therefore be implemented as a means to manage PET bottle waste. Different DRS configurations do, however, entail different costs and a cost-effective DRS configuration should be adopted for its implementation to be of net benefit to the economy. A retailer-based model, with collections done at major retailers across the country, is more cost effective than a depot model – indeed the depot model’s costs outweigh its benefits. The most cost-effective DRS configuration is one using retailers as collection points, and one which is based on automated returns using reverse vending machines. Here, any fixed and operation costs that would be borne by retailers when participating in the DRS would be covered through revenues generated by the DRS, as the retailer is not expected to cover these costs itself.
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Low Labour Productivity And Unpaid Care Work
Global patterns of the trade-off between paid work whether in the formal or informal economy and unpaid care work hold true for Jamaica. This pilot Time Use Survey (TUS) shows that Jamaica follows the general trend in the differences in the amount of time that men versus women spend on unpaid care work and on paid work. The study shows clearly that the allocation of Jamaican women’s time to unpaid care work has a negative correlation with their labour force participation rates, labour exclusion and gender pay gaps. The data provides an empirical basis on which to argue that there are real costs to the economy of unpaid care work, providing a basis for measures to be taken to reduce those costs. That there is a quantitative basis of the problem shows that relieving women of the burden of unpaid care work can redound to the commercial benefit of the broader economy.
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