Household Waste In Social Perspective

The principal barrier to the introduction of more sustainable disposal methods has previously been thought to be the lack of both available knowledge and an awareness of the benefits and ease of these systems. Illustrated by an in-depth analysis of waste reduction, reuse and recycling behaviour in Exeter, Devon, this volume questions these assumptions. It not only provides a fresh examination of the previous (mainly US-focused) research into the underlying determinants of waste management behaviour from a geographical perspective, but also develops a new theoretical model based on the Theory of Reasoned Action. Linking three broad categories: environmental values, situational characteristics and psychological factors, the book provides a timely evaluation of research on household waste management, develops an original analytical model and demonstrates the utility and importance of focusing on individual attitudes.

This book surveys existing literature from both waste management and behavioural sciences to offer a complete overview of how economic agents relate to a central matter in the policy making agenda: that of waste prevention and recycling. Environmental behavioural economics is a growing field of research, yet investigation in this area concentrates mostly on energy savings or pollution reduction. The authors highlight the importance of the role of waste management, analysing the effect of monetary and non-monetary incentives and motivations, and explores the complex interplay between motivations, recycling, minimisation and waste policies to affect consumer behaviour. This book will be of interest to researchers and policy-makers in the fields of waste management and environmental economics.

This book offers a critical perspective on the issue of organising waste in cities, which has often been positioned in terms of relatively narrow engineering, economic and physical science approaches. It emphasises the ways in which the notion of waste, and the narratives and discourses associated with it, have been socially constructed with corresponding implications for waste governance and local waste handling practices. Organising waste in the city takes a broad and international approach to the ways in which the issue of waste is framed, and brings together narratives from cities as diverse as Amsterdam, Bristol, Cairo, Gothenburg, Helsingborg and Managua. Organised into four main sections and with an integrative introduction and conclusion, the book not only provides new insights into the hidden stories of urban and municipal household solid waste and waste landscapes, but also connects concerns regarding urban waste to such issues as globalisation, governance, urban ecology, and social, economic and environmental justice.

Current development results in a linear flow from raw material to waste, which cannot be sustainable in the long term. Plus, a global population of 7 billion people means that there are 7 billion waste producers in the world. At present, dumping and landfilling are the primary practices for getting rid of municipal solid waste (MSW). However, this waste contains resources that we’ve yet to utilize. To create sustainable societies, we need to approach zero waste by recovering these resources. There are cities and countries where zero waste is close to becoming a reality. Landfilling of organic waste is forbidden in Europe, and countries such as Sweden, Germany, Belgium, and Switzerland have developed a variety of technologies to recover resources from MSW. Resource Recovery to Approach Zero Municipal Waste explores the solid waste management laws and regulations of different countries, comparing the latest resource recovery technologies and offering future perspectives. The book tackles the many technical, social, ecological, economical, and managerial aspects of this complex subject while promoting the development of sustainable societies to achieve a greener global environment.

The earnest warnings of an impending "solid waste crisis" that permeated the 1980s provided the impetus for the widespread adoption of municipal recycling programs. Since that time America has witnessed a remarkable rise in public participation in recycling activities, including curbside collection, drop-off centers, and commercial and office programs. Recently, however, a backlash against these programs has developed. A vocal group of "anti-recyclers" has appeared, arguing that recycling is not an economically efficient strategy for addressing waste management problems. In Why Do We Recycle? Frank Ackerman examines the arguments for and against recycling, focusing on the debate surrounding the use of economic mechanisms to determine the value of recycling. Based on previously unpublished research conducted by the Tellus Institute, a nonprofit environmental research group in Boston, Massachusetts, Ackerman presents an alternative view of the theory of market incentives, challenging the notion that setting appropriate prices and allowing unfettered competition will result in the most efficient level of recycling. Among the topics he considers are: externality issues -- unit pricing for waste disposal, effluent taxes, virgin materials subsidies, advance disposal fees the landfill crisis and disposal facility siting container deposit ("bottle bill") legislation environmental issues that fall outside of market theory calculating costs and benefits of municipal recycling programs life-cycle analysis and packaging policy -- Germany's "Green Dot" packaging system and producer responsibility the impacts of production in extractive and manufacturing industries composting and organic waste management economics of conservation, and material use and long-term sustainability Ackerman explains why purely economic approaches to recycling are incomplete and argues for a different kind of decisionmaking, one that addresses social issues, future as well as present resource needs, and non-economic values that cannot be translated into dollars and cents. Backed by empirical data and replete with specific examples, the book offers valuable guidance for municipal planners, environmental managers, and policymakers responsible for establishing and implementing recycling programs. It is also an accessible introduction to the subject for faculty, students, and concerned citizens interested in the social, economic, and ethical underpinnings of recycling efforts.

Household solid waste management is a severe problem in East Africa capital cities. Domestic actors tend to be neglected in their role in solving the problem. This book develops a new conceptual framework for analyzing the role of households in solid waste management in East Africa's capital cities. This conceptual framework is derived from the theory of the Modernized Mixture Approach. By focusing on households in informal settlements in particular, domestic routines for handling wastes are analyzed for their technical and social dimensions. By elaborating upon the technical and social aspects of domestic solid wastes and the role of householders in producing and handling these wastes, this book adds to the scanty body of scientific knowledge of sustainable waste management by householders in East African countries. The knowledge generated with respect to technical and social dimensions can be used in the future by researchers and policy makers in SWM policies both in East Africa and comparable situations elsewhere in the world.

Waste is something we encounter on an everyday basis. Today, the waste-mountain is increasing despite ambitious measures being taken to decrease it. Consequently, increased scholarly interest is being devoted to waste, but primarily from a technocratic and scientific point of view. This compilation offers different perspectives on waste, its characteristics, and its presence in the world from social scientist and humanist standpoints. Waste is the constant companion to the human, and is thus inherent in modern society. Therefore, waste needs to be further approached and understood from a plethora of scholarly perspectives and disciplines, and further investigated through a multitude of methodologies and data collection techniques. The imagination of a future where waste-preventive actions and circular economies permeate society can only be a reality if technocratic and scientific accounts of what is to be done, when, and how, are complemented by social scientific and humanist concepts of the nature and constitution of waste. Such a perspective offers the possibility to understand how waste is constituted through relationships, language, materials, politics, practices and structures. This book shows that philosophers, historians, cultural theorists and economists have much to offer on the topic of waste as a part of everyday modern life.

This book focuses on the crucial sustainability challenge of reducing food waste at the level of consumer-society. Providing an in-depth, research-based overview of the multifaceted problem, it considers environmental, economic, social and ethical factors. Perspectives included in the book address households, consumers, and organizations, and their role in reducing food waste. Rather than focusing upon the reasons for food waste itself, the chapters develop research-based solutions for the problem, providing a much-needed solution-orientated approach that takes multiple perspectives into account. Chapters 1, 2, 12 and 16 of this book are available open access under a CC BY 4.0 license at link.springer.com