The regional heterogeneity of household recycling: a spatial-econometric analysis of Swedish plastic packing waste

Abstract

Environmental policy is often formulated at the national level, but the primary responsibilities for policy implementation, monitoring and compliance are often assigned to local actors (e.g., municipalities). This paper investigates the regional heterogeneity of household plastic waste collection among Swedish municipalities, and how collection rates have been influenced by local waste management policies, geographical conditions and socio-economic characteristics. This is achieved by employing spatial econometric methods and cross-sectional data for 282 Swedish municipalities. The results confirm the presence of spatial correlation. Furthermore, municipalities that employ weight-based waste management fees generally experience higher collection rates. The presence of curbside recycling and a high intensity of recycling drop-off stations, i.e., policy measures that help improve the infrastructural conditions for household recycling, also help explain why some municipalities perform better than others. However, the correlations between packaging waste collection and a number of important regional cost variables, such as the distance to the recycling industry, urbanization rate and population density, turn out both statistically and economically insignificant. An important explanation for this could be that the Swedish producer responsibility scheme has offered regionally differentiated (and fixed) monetary compensations to local collection entrepreneurs, and these have typically been higher in high-cost regions. This implies that plastic packaging waste collection in Sweden has been performed in a spatially cost-ineffective manner.

Do Sociodemographic Characteristics in Waste Management Matter? Case Study of Recyclable Generation in the Czech Republic

“…Negative correlation with the percentage of the population over 64 years was also observed by Saladie [24]. D'Elia [19], Hage, and Söderholm [8], and Hage et al [25] found no relation between recycling behavior and age.…”

“…The authors explained this relation with higher opportunity costs of households with higher education. No statistically significant influence of education on waste sorting was detected Hage et al [25], or by Šauer, Pařízková, and Hadrabová [28] for the Czech Republic.…”

“…They estimated that a $1000 increase in income per person and year leads to a reduction of recycling rate by 0.2%. No or rather weak influence of income on generation of recyclables was observed by Abbott, Nandeibam and O'Shea [17], Mazzanti and Zoboli [23], Hockett, Lober and Pilgrim [29], Hage et al [25], and Saladie [24].…”

Household Waste Sorting and Engagement in Everyday Life Occupations After Migration—A Scoping Review

“…The publications by Miafodzyeva et al [24], Gregson et al [25], and Bonatti [26] study waste sorting among people with an immigration background or ethnic minorities. All other resource recovery studies that were included in this review do not study waste sorting among people with an immigration background per se, but meet the inclusion criteria because information on waste sorting among ethnic groups or immigrants was presented as a byproduct of their objectives [27][28][29][30][31][32][33]. One study considered people with an immigration background in their tables but did not discuss this further in the text [28].…”

“…Waste sorting and recycling among people with an immigration background and ethnic minorities were mentioned in studies that were conducted in Italy [26]; Northern Europe and the UK [25]; the UK [30][31][32][33]; the Netherlands [28]; and Sweden [24,27,29]. All these studies used the concept of 'recycling' rather than 'waste sorting'.…”