The ranking of the Societal LCC could change according to the
same parameters as for the total Conventional LCC, i.e. the digestate
price and utilisation rate of the containers for organic waste,
though for the Societal LCC the critical parameters were the time
and value associated with household source segregation. While
the baseline assumption in the scenarios was 0 €/h for household
sorting, different approaches exist for estimating this value. For
example, Ekvall (2002) proposed using one-third of the hourly
wage as a cost, but if households feel a benefit because of the sorting
process, i.e. if waste sorting and recycling is considered to provide
citizens with an added benefit that contributes positively to
society, this value should be negative and counted as a benefit
(Nordic Council of Ministers, 2007). Conversely, if sorting is considered
to be done at the expense of other activities and experienced
as a burden, then the value should be positive and treated as a cost
to the households.