SWANA's Applied Research Foundation supports SWANA's mission of 'advancing the practice' by conducting collectively-funded research on pressing solid waste issues that are identified and selected by the Foundation's subscribers.

Subscribers provide "penny per ton" contributions - based on the amount of waste that they manage - to support and participate in the Foundation's research activities on an annual basis.

Become a Subscriber Today - Join Now!

Download the 2008 ARF Prospectus

Subscribers are directly involved through: 

• Identifying and defining research topics
• Participating in two project review meetings held in conjunction with related SWANA symposia
• Networking with local government and private sector leaders in the research topic of interest
• Providing research data and reviewing interim results and final work products.

SWANA's ARF Subscribers Targeted Four Solid Waste Research Topics:

Research Group	No. of Subscribers/Sponsors	Primary Research Focus
Collection	4/40	North American Benchmarking Project on Solid Waste Collection Services The SWANA ARF Collection Group spearheaded the “North American Benchmarking Project”  for solid waste collection services. While interest in benchmarking as a managment tool has grow in recent years, a national benchmarking project on solid waste collection had not been conducted since the 1970s. Dr. Barbara Stevens, president of Ecodata, Inc., provided technical support for this ground-breaking research project.
Recycling	6	Effective Incentives for Urban Recycling The SWANA ARF Recycling Group sponsored research that assessed the feasibility of co-collecting yard waste and municipal solid waste in a dual collection vehicle.
Waste-to-Energy	4	Changing the U.S. EPA's Waste Management Heirarchy with Regard to Waste-To-Energy The SWANA ARF Waste-to-Energy Group sponsored projects that compared emissions from waste-to-energy facilities to those from traditional power plants.
Disposal	20	Benchmarking the Performance of Municipal Solid Waste Landfills This innovative project provided solid waste managers with up-to-date information on how to benchmark and assess landfill waste densities at local landfills. This research identified cost-effective methods of managing landfill airspace utilization.

For information on becoming an Applied Research Foundation Subscriber, please click here.

To obtain a copy of the following Applied Research Foundation publications,, please click on the publication title:

• *New* Landfill Gas Collection System Efficiencies
• A Solid Waste Manager's Guide to the Bioreactor Landfill
• Report on Single Stream Recycling Systems
• The Effectiveness of MSW Landfills in Controlling Heavy Metal Releases to the Environment
• Landfill Airpspace Untilization:  Measurement & Management
• Comparison of Air Emissions from Waste-To-Energy  and Fossil Fueled Power Plants
• Dual Collections of Municipal Solid Waste and Yard Wastes< SPAN>
• The Trend Toward Regional Privately-Owned Landfills
• Source Separation and Collection of Food Wastes from Multi-Family Buildings
• Composting of Municipal Solid Waste Substreams
• Moisture Measurement in Municipal Solid Waste Landfills

The following Applied Research Foundation publications are provided free-of-charge to SWANA members.  Please click on the publication title to download the desired publication. 

• Recycling and Disposal of Discarded Consumer Electronics
• Cost-Effectiveness of Processing C&D Wastes and Markets for Recovered C&D Materials
• Economic Analysis of Landfill Gas Turbines
• Landfill Stormwater Runoff Standards
• Comparison of Emissions from Waste-To-Energy and Coal-Fired Power Plants

The Foundation is currently conducting an on-going research project - funded by Project Sponsors - called The North American Benchmarking Study for Solid Waste Collection Services. For more information on participating in this project, please click here.