Unit based pricing and undesirable diversion: Market prices and community characteristics.

This article uses case studies and multivariate analysis to explore the extent to which unit pricing programs contribute to undesirable diversion activities. An extended case-study analysis of nine unit-pricing cities details actual levels of diversion for six forms of undesirable diversion--littering and dumping, backyard burning, charitable dumping, dumping in commercial dumpsters, residuals in recycling bins, and toting. The multivariate analysis addresses whether implementation of a unit pricing program significantly explains increases in undesirable diversion. We argue that community characteristics are likely to be the strongest influence on residents' feelings about littering and dumping. We confirm that variables describing demographic and socioeconomic factors are more important than variables representing solid waste program features in predicting changes in undesirable diversion after implementation of unit pricing.