A profile of recyclers making special trips to recycle.

The aims of the research were to: (1) establish a profile of 'special recyclers', i.e. those who make special trips by car to recycle their household waste; and (2) establish whether the environmental burden resulting from their activities presents a significant environmental problem than needs pro-active management. The research was undertaken through surveys of recyclers at supermarket recycling centres and at civic amenity sites in Glasgow and across Ayrshire in south-west Scotland. Twenty-two percent of civic amenity recyclers made special trips to recycle, whilst at supermarkets less than 10% made special journeys. Those making special journeys tended to make shorter journeys than those combining recycling with another activity. Special recyclers also tended, on average, to recycle more items and bring greater weights of recyclable material per trip. No demographic difference was found between the special recyclers and the 'non-specials'. The environmental impact of consumer journeys to recycle was estimated from the statistic: 'The total distance travelled by car by special recyclers/the total weight deposited by all recyclers'. For the sites of this survey, this statistic ranged in value from 9 km tonne-1 to 106 km tonne-1. The lowest impacts of 9 km tonne-1 were at a supermarket site in a small town with a predominantly local catchment. The highest impacts were at a civic amenity site, in a major town, also used by residents from satellite communities. Over 50% of special recyclers cited nearness as their prime reason for choosing a particular site, compared with 32% of non-specials. Although special recyclers in Ayrshire did appear to act reasonably responsibly (environmentally), their activities produced additional environmental burden. Simulation studies demonstrate that up to 34% reduction in this burden may be possible through encouraging longer intervals between recycling trips. Three quarters of the environmental burden was attributable to less than 5% of the overall recycling population.     

Attitudes and actions towards recycling behaviours in the Limerick,Ireland region

Recycling across Ireland has increased incrementally since the introduction and implementation of the Landfill Directive 1999/31/EC, the WEEE directive 2002/96/EC, and the Waste Framework Directive 2008/98/EC. As a result of the implementation of the aforementioned directives, the volume of waste sent to landfill has fallen, household composting increased and recovery of municipal waste recyclables continues to improve. The improvements witnessed, are in part achieved as a result of the introduction of the 2-bin and 3-bin collection service. The improvement of facilities at recycling centres and bring banks have been instrumental in the gains achieved in recycling rates.NIMBYism, however, remains a constant impediment to procuring suitable sites for the recycling receptacles. It is not unusual for people to seek convenience whilst not wanting the associated problems on their doorstep. NIMBYism is something that most individuals are guilty of and it is considered to be quite normal. The structural difficulties associated with recycling rates are the first that need to be confronted. By altering the landscape, behaviours can be changed and improved. In the instance of bring banks and the social problems that are associated with them such as fly-tipping, changing the visual aspect of the receptacles and their positioning may improve recycling rates and reduce the number of instances of fly-tipping and littering.This paper presents the results of 509 questionnaires distributed to nine schools in the Limerick City and County environs. The questionnaires, distributed to primary schools actively participating in the Green School Programme, were analysed so as to get an understanding of the motivations and the deterrents surrounding household recycling of waste. From the analysis recommendations are made to reduce the social problems associated with bring banks and to increase the percentage of householders availing of waste collection services.     

How effective are current household recycling policies? Results from a national survey of U.S. households

This paper analyzes a unique dataset collected during a 2006 national survey of U.S. households to explore the effectiveness of common household recycling policies for metals, glass, and plastics: curbside recycling, drop-off recycling, deposit–refund systems (bottle bills), and marginal pricing for household waste. After estimating either generalized ordered logit or multinomial logit models, we find that the most important determinants of household recycling are people's attitudes toward recycling. Our results also suggest that omitting internal variables (perceived recycling obstacles and benefits as well as moral considerations) may bias policy coefficients. Socio-economic variables are typically not statistically significant, with the exceptions of young adults and of African Americans who tend to recycle less than others. Policies with the largest odds ratios are curbside recycling (which is further strengthened if recycling is mandatory), followed by the presence of drop-off collection centers nearby. Bottle bills are also statistically significant but their odds ratios are smaller, possibly because refunds are relatively small and typically do not change for years. Finally, marginal pricing appears to have a limited impact on recycling. These results suggest avenues for improving household recycling at a time when recycling rates appear to be plateauing.     

The influence of collection facility attributes on household collection rates of electronic waste: The case of televisions and computer monitors

In the US, household electronic waste collected for recycling is primarily by voluntary drop-off at designated collection facilities. This study examines the influence of specific collection facility attributes (recycling fees charged, number of days open, and driving distance) on the household collection rate of e-waste in the US state of Maine. Data were collected for household computer monitor and television collection for 92 municipal waste transfer facilities representing 30% of the state's population for one year. Results suggest that recycling fees are negatively correlated with the number of televisions and computer monitors collected; furthermore, the more frequently facilities were open, the more televisions and computer monitors were collected per capita. The distance from the facility had no correlation, which prompted an analysis of whether the existence of a curbside collection system in the municipality was influential. Results show a negative correlation between computer monitor and television collection and a municipality having recycling (but not e-waste) curbside collection. Based on the results of this study, policymakers may be able to increase the collection rate of household e-waste by eliminating or lowering recycling fees, expanding collection days and hours to increase convenience, and/or considering curbside collection of e-waste.     

A Lifecycle Assessment and Economic Valuation of Recycling

The financial costs of recycling schemes fail to account for external costs and benefits such as environmental pollution, road congestion and accidents. This paper compares the environmental and social impacts of a kerbside collection scheme for recyclable household waste, with a bring scheme, using lifecycle assessment. Economic valuation is used to assign relative weights to these impacts. A second comparison examines the relative external costs of recycling and landfill disposal of waste. The results show that the kerbside collection scheme has a lower external cost than the bring scheme, but this is of less importance than the benefits to be gained within the manufacturing system by using secondary materials. It is concluded that the combination of lifecycle assessment and economic valuation is an effective means of evaluation to direct the sustainable development of waste management.     

A comprehensive waste collection cost model applied to post-consumer plastic packaging waste

Post-consumer plastic packaging waste (PPW) can be collected for recycling via source separation or post-separation. In source separation, households separate plastics from other waste before collection, whereas in post-separation waste is separated at a treatment centre after collection. There are also two collection schemes, either curb side or via drop-off locations. These different schemes have impact on total costs of collection at the municipal level. It can also influence the facility choices and network design. Therefore, a method which can compare costs of various collection schemes is needed.A comprehensive cost model was developed to compare costs of municipal collection schemes of PPW. The ‘municipal waste collection cost model’ is based on variables including fixed and variable costs per vehicle, personnel cost, container or bag costs as well as on emission costs (using imaginary carbon taxes). The model can be used for decision support when strategic changes to the collection scheme of municipalities are considered. The model takes into account the characteristics of municipalities, including urbanization degree and taxation schemes for household waste management.The model was applied to the Dutch case of post-consumer plastic packaging waste. Results showed that that in general post-separation collection has the lowest costs and curb side collection in urban municipalities without residual waste collection taxing schemes the highest. These results were supported by the conducted sensitivity analysis, which showed that higher source separation responses are negatively related to curb side collection costs. Greenhouse gas emission costs are a significant part of the total costs when collecting post-consumer plastic packaging waste due to the low density to weight ratio of the materials collect. These costs can amount to 15% of the total collection costs.     

Public participation in plastics recycling schemes

Without public contributions, recycling from domestic waste would not be possible. In order to support recycling projects it is important to try to understand who recycles, how they recycle, and why they recycle. This paper presents the results of a structured survey of 500 members of the public served by schemes to collect plastics waste for recycling. Data were gathered on the characteristics, behaviours and motivations of recyclers. The authors also sought to discover how the public perceive plastics compared to other materials, and as a recyclable material. Responses were collected in such a way that the awareness of the recyclability of materials could be compared with the recycling behaviour of respondents. An element of comparison was introduced between those served by a system of bottle banks (bring scheme) and those covered by a household collection (collect scheme). The survey results are reported and their implications for the management of post-consumer plastics waste collection schemes are discussed.     

Life cycle assessment for reuse/recycling of donated waste textiles compared to use of virgin material: An UK energy saving perspective

In the UK, between 4 and 5% of the municipal solid waste stream is composed of clothes/textiles. Approximately 25% of this is recycled by companies such as the Salvation Army Trading Company Limited (SATCOL) who provide a collection and distribution infrastructure for ‘donated’ clothing and shoes. Textiles can be reused or undergo a processing stage and enter a recycling stream. Research was conducted in order to quantify the energy used by a reuse/recycling operation and whether this resulted in a net energy benefit. The energy footprint was quantified using a streamlined life cycle assessment (LCA), an LCA restricted in scope in order to target specific aspects of the footprint, in this case energy consumption. Taking into account extraction of resources, manufacture of materials, electricity generation, clothing collection, processing and distribution and final disposal of wastes it was demonstrated that for every kilogram of virgin cotton displaced by second hand clothing approximately 65 kWh is saved, and for every kilogram of polyester around 90 kWh is saved. Therefore, the reuse and recycling of the donated clothing results in a reduction in the environmental burden compared to purchasing new clothing made from virgin materials.     

Determining the socially optimal recycling rate

What municipal recycling rate is socially optimal? One credible answer would consider the recycling rate that minimizes the overall social costs of managing municipal waste. Such social costs are comprised of all budgetary costs and revenues associated with operating municipal waste and recycling programs, all costs to recycling households associated with preparing and storing recyclable materials for collection, all external disposal costs associated with waste disposed at landfills or incinerators, and all external benefits associated with the provision of recycled materials that foster environmentally efficient production processes. This paper discusses how to estimate these four components of social cost to then estimate the optimal recycling rate.     

Environmental assessment of different management options for individual waste fractions by means of life-cycle assessment modelling

Several alternatives exist for handling of individual waste fractions, including recycling, incineration and landfilling. From an environmental point of view, the latter is commonly considered as the least desirable option. Many studies based on life-cycle assessment (LCA) highlight the environmental benefits offered by incineration and especially by recycling. However, the landfilling option is often approached unjustly in these studies, maybe disregarding the remarkable technological improvements that landfills have undergone in the last decades in many parts of the world.This study, by means of LCA-modelling, aims at comparing the environmental performance of three major management options (landfilling, recycling and incineration or composting) for a number of individual waste fractions. The landfilling option is here approached comprehensively, accounting for all technical and environmental factors involved, including energy generation from landfill gas and storage of biogenic carbon. Leachate and gas emissions associated to each individual waste fraction have been estimated by means of a mathematical modelling. This approach towards landfilling emissions allows for a more precise quantification of the landfill impacts when comparing management options for selected waste fractions.Results from the life-cycle impact assessment (LCIA) show that the environmental performance estimated for landfilling with energy recovery of the fractions “organics” and “recyclable paper” is comparable with composting (for “organics”) and incineration (for “recyclable paper”). This however requires high degree of control over gas and leachate emissions, high gas collection efficiency and extensive gas utilization at the landfill. For the other waste fractions, recycling and incineration are favourable, although specific emissions of a variety of toxic compounds (VOCs, PAHs, NO_x, heavy metals, etc.) may significantly worsen their environmental performance.     

Motives as Predictors of the Public's Attitudes Toward Solid Waste Issues

/ Surveys focusing on solid-waste-related issues, conducted over a period of several years, provided data from independent samples of residents of a Midwestern, USA, community. The collection of these data yielded useful information about the relationship between residents' recycling motives and their attitudes toward solid waste management in light of several changes in the solid waste infrastructure of the community over that time. The initial survey assessed baseline beliefs and attitudes, while later surveys were conducted after the implementation of a community educational program and a curbside recycling program. The findings indicated that for recyclers and nonrecyclers, different motives predicted endorsement of solid waste programs and policies. Although a similar percentage of recyclers and nonrecyclers were in support of various proposed programs and policies, concern for the environment was found to be positively related to nonrecyclers' support of proposed programs, particularly before these programs were implemented. Prior to program implementation, motives other than environmental altruism were found to be related to recyclers' support of the programs. Additional findings support the idea that educational programs and increased accessibility to recycling opportunities affect the relationship between people's attitudes toward solid waste management and their recycling motives.     

Botswana's environmental policy on recycling

Recycling operations have become one of the primary strategies for waste management, worldwide. Especially, recycling operations are viewed as among the most effective techniques for reducing the amount of municipal solid waste disposed at landfill sites. Botswana's environmental policy on recycling stipulates, among others, that all waste management authorities should provide information on the classification and quantities of controlled waste targeted for recycling. This paper, therefore, examines the extent to which recycling operations in Botswana have either been conducted in compliance with or in violation of some major environmental requirements as enunciated on statutory guidelines. Compatibility between environmental policies on recycling and actual practice is evaluated focusing on two companies (Dumatau trading and Botswana Tissue) involved in recycling operation. Data from the two companies is complemented by one collected from the Gaborone landfill site. Finally, this study discusses on the role played by various stakeholders in policy formulation and implementation with particular emphasis being placed on a select number of non-governmental organisations (NGO).     

Waste Management in Guangdong Cities: The Waste Management Literacy and Waste Reduction Preferences of Domestic Waste Generators

A questionnaire survey was conducted in 2002 on 1365 households in two prefectural-level cities in the Pearl River Delta, Jiangmen and Zhongshan. Three groups of issues are covered in this paper: 1) waste management literacy, concerns, and public participation; 2) waste recycling practices and the potential for waste avoidance; and 3) public environmental literacy. This study confirms findings from previous surveys and provides new information on important issues such as imposing monetary charges on waste and environmental activities, littering, source separation programs (SSPs), and public participation and expectations in local waste management. Saving up recyclable materials for redemption in waste depots is commonly practiced in mainland China regardless of the level of development of a city, although at the household level, high-income families tend to place less value on the revenues to be gained from redemption than lower income groups do. Data from the previous and the present studies indicate that such voluntary but largely economically driven waste recovery behavior diverts at least 10% of the household waste from the waste stream. Although uncompensated SSP is less appealing in the two cities than compensated SSP, it was found that when the median per capita income of a city reaches RMB2000 per month, a high participation rate for uncompensated waste recovery is more likely to occur. Education and income levels are the chief factors affecting littering behavior and the potential for waste avoidance. Contrary to general belief, the local Chinese community is active in microwaste management. The concern, however, is over the inability of the grassroots bureaucracy to deal with rising expectations for waste collection services and neighborhood cleanliness.     

Current Levels and Management of Solid Wastes in Nigeria

Solid waste is of serious concern in developing countries because of its high rate of generation and the low‐end quality of its management. Inefficient handling of solid wastes may result in deterioration of environmental quality, but it can also result in loss of potential resources. This study reviews current solid waste generation and management in Nigeria and the need for an effective collection, recovery, and recycling policy. Our review is based on literature searches and personal field surveys. Observations showed that uncontrolled electronic waste (e‐waste), agricultural‐waste (agro‐waste), scrap metals, waste polymers, and waste from the transportation sector are prevalent in Nigeria. Recent collection rates were less than 50% of the total solid waste generated (i.e., approximately 40% was collected). With an effective collection system and appropriate policies, the abundance of solid waste in the country could present material recovery and recycling opportunities that would boost the economy and move Nigeria closer to sustainable resource management.     

Household income,living and working conditions of dumpsite waste pickers in Bantar Gebang: Toward integrated waste management in Indonesia

This paper clarifies household income, living and working conditions of dumpsite waste pickers at Bantar Gebang final disposal site for municipal solid waste generated in Jakarta, and investigates the feasibility of integrating the informal sector into formal waste management in Indonesia. The first author did fieldwork for totally 16 months at the site and quantitative field surveys were conducted twice during the period. All respondents in the first round quantitative survey (n = 1390) were categorized as follows: waste pickers, family workers, wage labors, bosses, family of the bosses, housewives, pupils/students, preschoolers, the unemployed, and others. Based on the results of the second round quantitative survey (n = 69 households), their average household income was estimated to be approximately US 216 dollars per month (n = 59 households), which was virtually equivalent to the minimum wage in Jakarta in 2013. Living conditions of scavengers at the site were horrible, and their working conditions were dangerous due to medical waste and other sharp waste. Polluted groundwater was one of the serious environmental problems at the site. Despite the social, health and environmental problems, they were attracted to the freedom of entering the informal recycling system in Bantar Gebang and withdrawing from the system, in which a lot of opportunities were provided for the people having few marketable skills to obtain cash earnings. The freedom of their choice should be guaranteed as a prerequisite before integrating the informal sector into formal waste management. Furthermore, special attentions are required when incomes of scavengers are the same level as minimum wages and the national economy is rapidly growing, because scavengers cannot easily change their jobs due to few marketable skills. Indonesian national waste laws and regulations should be properly applied to facilitate a socialization process at final disposal sites. Measures need to be taken to prevent children from working as informal recycling actors, especially for waste pickers aged 15 or younger.     

Recycling — an environmentally friendly and income generating activity towards sustainable solid waste management. Case study — Dar es Salaam City, Tanzania

Traditionally solid waste management has evolved as mainly the removal of municipal wastes by hauling them out of the city boundaries and dumping them ‘there’. This is in conformity with the ‘out of sight out of mind’ philosophy. However, with the ever increasing tonnage of refuse due to the expansion of urban centers, which implies increased collection, transportation and disposal costs, recycling is currently accepted as a sustainable approach to solid waste management. This paper reports on the findings of a study, conducted in the city of Dar es Salaam between the years 1993 and 1995, on the scavenging activities and recycling trends of some selected items in Dar es Salaam. Apart from the discussions on existing solid waste generation rates (2000 tonnes/day), composition (60% being organic/or vegetable matter) and their management in Dar es Salaam, the paper also presents data obtained through a survey of Vingunguti dump site and other waste collection centers. It was established that there are currently about 600 solid waste scavengers in Dar es Salaam, approximately 109 of whom operate at Vingunguti dump site and others at 14 different collection centers. Many of them opted for scavenging due to unemployment. The study findings indicate that their average monthly income exceeded the official minimum wage (at the time of study) enabling them to support their families. This demonstrates the potential of recycling to generate gainful employment with implied lower crime rates among the unemployed. Recycling activities in the city were observed to be not only a critical source of raw materials for small-scale industries, in the absence of which they would cease to operate, but also a widely accepted environmentally friendly technology for solid waste management. Out of 294 tonnes of studied waste materials (paper, metal, plastic, glass and textiles) only 4 tonnes are recovered and recycled. The remaining 290 tonnes/day of recyclable material are left to pollute the environment or are collected and transported for final disposal and, therefore, unnecessarily contribute to the shortening of the life span of the dump site. Finally, the paper gives some recommendations for improved recycling activity so as to make it an important means of reducing the overall volume of waste materials to be transported and deposited in the dump site and at the same time provide a potential opportunity for employment for unskilled workers.     

Cost‐benefit analysis of paper recycling: a case study and some general principles

This paper sets out the legislative background to the recycling of waste materials in the UK. Relevant items in this background include: the provision of recycling credits under the 1990 Environmental Protection Act; the draft EC Packaging Waste Directive; and the German DSD scheme. We next set out the elements of a cost‐benefit analysis of waste paper recycling, including the environmental impacts of recycling. The method is then applied to a recycling scheme in central Scotland. We find that whilst on private, financial grounds the scheme is unattractive, it passes the cost‐benefit test in the base‐line case; this justifies government support for this recycling scheme, given the data used.     

Recycling inorganic domestic solid wastes: results from a pilot study in Dar es Salaam City, Tanzania

Solid waste recycling and recovery approach can be a sustainable and effective waste management system in many growing cities of the least developed countries. In the course of achieving proper solid waste management, a lot of efforts in these countries have, however, been focused more on collection and disposal and ignored waste recycling which can result into income generation, employment creation and reduction of the waste quantities that will finally require disposal in the existing municipal landfills or disposal sites. This paper reports the findings of a study on solid waste recycling in a selected semi-planned settlement in Dar es Salaam City, Tanzania. The objective of the study was to describe the existing solid waste management in the study area with a view to identifying the waste generation rates, types of the wastes and determine the amount of waste from the settlement that can be recycled for the purpose of income generation and reduction of the total amount of waste to be disposed of. Findings from this study revealed that waste generation rate in the study area was 0.36 kg per person per day, and that out of the 14 600 kg of recyclable waste generated per year, 8030 kg or 55% can be recycled and generate a per capita income of Tsh 834 000 for waste recyclists which is more than twice the official minimum annual wage (Tsh 360 000) in Tanzania at the time of the study. The study also revealed that effective waste recycling in the study area would result in the reduction of the total waste that need to be transported for final disposal by 11%.     

Phosphorus recovery and recycling from waste: An appraisal based on a French case study

Phosphate rocks, used for phosphorus (P) fertilizer production, are a non-renewable resource at the human time scale. Their depletion at the global scale may threaten global food and feed security. To prevent this depletion, improved P resource recycling from food chain waste to agricultural soils and to the food and feed industry is often presented as a serious option. However, waste streams are often complex and their recycling efficiency is poorly characterized. The aim of this paper is to estimate the P recovery and recycling potential from waste, considering France as a case study. We assessed the P flows in food processing waste, household wastewater and municipal waste at the country scale using a substance flow analysis for the year 2006. We also quantified the P recycling efficiency as the fraction of P in waste that ultimately reached agricultural soils or was recycled in the food and feed industry. Efforts were made to limit data uncertainty by cross-checking multiple data sources concerning P content in waste materials. Results showed that, in general, P recovery in waste was high but that the overall P recycling efficiency was only 51% at the country scale. In particular, P recycling efficiency was 75% for industrial waste, 43% for household wastewater and 47% for municipal waste. The remaining P was discharged into water bodies or landfilled, causing P-induced environmental problems as well as losses of nutrient resources. Major P losses were through food waste (which amounted to 39% of P in available food) and treated wastewater, and the findings were confirmed through cross-checking with alternative data sources. Options for improving P resource recycling and, thereby, reducing P fertilizer use were quantified but appeared to be less promising than scenarios based on reduced food waste or redesigned agricultural systems.     

Household food waste: the implications of consumer choice in food from purchase to disposal

Food and food-related waste is a high priority in terms of waste minimisation in New Zealand. Over the summer of 2012–2013, a survey of 147 participants was conducted on a range of views and practices related to environmental challenges and understandings. The survey, undertaken in Palmerston North, New Zealand, captured a wide socio-demographic. This article focuses on respondents’ food practices from purchase, to plate, to disposal and the environmental implications of these practices. The survey data have allowed an enriched understanding of both individual and structural level challenges as well as incentives towards improving environmental practices in relation to household food waste minimisation. The results indicated that, in keeping with other research in this area, food waste increases according to the number of individuals in a household, and in particular the number of younger people. Also, while the majority of participants were at least “somewhat concerned” about their households’ environmental impact, over three quarters of participant households put food waste into their rubbish bin. Some solutions and directions to further progress research, policy, and practice in this area are offered, and include the need for more direct and personalised communication regarding waste minimisation, along with the provision of kerbside food waste collections. It is clear that individual- or household-level changes are important and must be supported systemically by both local body and state level legislation and initiatives, if there is to be any substantial decline in food waste going to landfill.