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Assessing Incorrect Household Waste Sorting in a Medium-Sized Swedish City

Author

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  • Kamran Rousta

    (School of Engineering, University of Borås, Allégatan 1, Borås 50190, Sweden)

  • Karin M. Ekström

    (School of Business and IT, University of Borås, Allégatan 1, Borås 50190, Sweden)

Abstract

Source separation is a common method for dealing with the increasing problem of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) in society. The citizens are then responsible for separating waste fractions produced in their home. If the consumers fail to sort the waste according to the source separation scheme, it will lead to an ineffective system. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the environmental, economic and social aspects of incorrect waste sorting in a medium sized Swedish city that has established a source separation system. In order to determine the extent to which citizens correctly sort their waste, food waste (black bags) and combustible fraction (white bags), were collected randomly from a residential area and categorized in different waste fractions. The results show that approximately 68 wt% of the waste in the white and 29 wt% in the black bags were not sorted correctly. This incorrect sorting accrues over 13 million SEK per year cost for this community. In order to improve the inhabitants’ participation in the waste management system, it is necessary to change different factors such as convenience and easy access to the recycling stations in the local MSW management systems as well as to review current regulation and policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Kamran Rousta & Karin M. Ekström, 2013. "Assessing Incorrect Household Waste Sorting in a Medium-Sized Swedish City," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(10), pages 1-13, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:5:y:2013:i:10:p:4349-4361:d:29278
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Greger Henriksson & Lynn Åkesson & Susanne Ewert, 2010. "Uncertainty Regarding Waste Handling in Everyday Life," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 2(9), pages 1-15, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Babak Nemat & Mohammad Razzaghi & Kim Bolton & Kamran Rousta, 2023. "Design-Based Approach to Support Sorting Behavior of Food Packaging," Clean Technol., MDPI, vol. 5(1), pages 1-32, February.
    2. Babak Nemat & Mohammad Razzaghi & Kim Bolton & Kamran Rousta, 2020. "The Potential of Food Packaging Attributes to Influence Consumers’ Decisions to Sort Waste," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-22, March.
    3. Lichi Zhang & Yanyan Jiang & Junmin Wu, 2022. "Evolutionary Game Analysis of Government and Residents’ Participation in Waste Separation Based on Cumulative Prospect Theory," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-16, November.
    4. Qinrun Zhang, 2021. "China's policy and finding ways to prevent collapse in WEEE processing in the context of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 21(4), pages 693-710, December.
    5. Coralie Hellwig & Greta Häggblom-Kronlöf & Kim Bolton & Kamran Rousta, 2019. "Household Waste Sorting and Engagement in Everyday Life Occupations After Migration—A Scoping Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(17), pages 1-29, August.
    6. Qiannan Zhuo & Chen Liu & Beiqi Wang & Wanglin Yan, 2023. "Bridging Local Governments and Residents for Household Waste Source Separation Using a Business-Driven, Multi-Stakeholder Cooperative Partnership Model—A Case Study of HUGE Recycling in Yuhang, Hangzh," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-18, July.
    7. Decai Tang & Lei Shi & Xiaojuan Huang & Ziqian Zhao & Biao Zhou & Brandon J. Bethel, 2022. "Influencing Factors on the Household-Waste-Classification Behavior of Urban Residents: A Case Study in Shanghai," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-16, May.

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