The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Kerbside recycling: a case study from the North-west of England

Kerbside recycling: a case study from the North-west of England
Kerbside recycling: a case study from the North-west of England
It is widely agreed that public support is vital to the success of most recycling schemes; the actions of householders are paramount to the success of sustainable waste policies. However, the success of recycling schemes is not just dependent on public participation; it is also dependent on careful planning, effective design and tailoring to local needs.
This study has evaluated a kerbside recycling scheme in the north-west of England by comparing the recycling performance of those on alternate collections of residual waste and recyclates with those on weekly residual collections and fortnightly recyclate collections. Three data collection methodologies were adopted: postal questionnaires, set-out rate monitoring, and personal interviews with policy writers.
The results demonstrated that alternate collections produce higher recycling set-out rates, suggesting that alternate collections will also generate higher recycling rates. The research showed that if designed and complemented by other services, then an alternate collection system is a realistic waste management approach. However, the local authority and the public appear to use different indicators of success for the scheme. The local authority uses governmental performance indicators (such as best value performance indicators—BVPIs) to measure success, whereas the public's indicators of success tend to focus more on issues such as required changes to established behaviours, convenience and personal preferences.
A key recommendation from this study is that all local authorities should carry out local opinion surveys on an annual basis to supplement the BVPIs required by statute. This should help them to fill the information gaps in order to provide a comprehensive, up-to-date and user-responsive waste management service to the public
household waste, kerbside collection, recycling, social survey, alternate collections, deprivation
0921-3449
381-394
Wilson, C.D.H.
93952699-50db-452a-82e9-cb2c9661540b
Williams, I.D.
c9d674ac-ee69-4937-ab43-17e716266e22
Wilson, C.D.H.
93952699-50db-452a-82e9-cb2c9661540b
Williams, I.D.
c9d674ac-ee69-4937-ab43-17e716266e22

Wilson, C.D.H. and Williams, I.D. (2007) Kerbside recycling: a case study from the North-west of England. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 52 (2), 381-394. (doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2007.02.006).

Record type: Article

Abstract

It is widely agreed that public support is vital to the success of most recycling schemes; the actions of householders are paramount to the success of sustainable waste policies. However, the success of recycling schemes is not just dependent on public participation; it is also dependent on careful planning, effective design and tailoring to local needs.
This study has evaluated a kerbside recycling scheme in the north-west of England by comparing the recycling performance of those on alternate collections of residual waste and recyclates with those on weekly residual collections and fortnightly recyclate collections. Three data collection methodologies were adopted: postal questionnaires, set-out rate monitoring, and personal interviews with policy writers.
The results demonstrated that alternate collections produce higher recycling set-out rates, suggesting that alternate collections will also generate higher recycling rates. The research showed that if designed and complemented by other services, then an alternate collection system is a realistic waste management approach. However, the local authority and the public appear to use different indicators of success for the scheme. The local authority uses governmental performance indicators (such as best value performance indicators—BVPIs) to measure success, whereas the public's indicators of success tend to focus more on issues such as required changes to established behaviours, convenience and personal preferences.
A key recommendation from this study is that all local authorities should carry out local opinion surveys on an annual basis to supplement the BVPIs required by statute. This should help them to fill the information gaps in order to provide a comprehensive, up-to-date and user-responsive waste management service to the public

This record has no associated files available for download.

More information

Published date: December 2007
Keywords: household waste, kerbside collection, recycling, social survey, alternate collections, deprivation

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 53548
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/53548
ISSN: 0921-3449
PURE UUID: 25441fb5-7092-4fa4-9a87-6b5d4b0db7fb
ORCID for I.D. Williams: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-0121-1219

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 17 Jul 2008
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 03:43

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: C.D.H. Wilson
Author: I.D. Williams ORCID iD

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×