A Procedure to Transform Recycling Behavior for Source Separation of Household Waste

Household waste separation at the source is a central part of waste management systems in Sweden. Resource recovery of materials and energy increased substantially after separate collection was implemented in the 1990s. A procedure to transform recycling behavior for the sorting of household waste—called the recycling behavior transition (RBT) procedure—was designed and implemented in a waste management system in Sweden. Repeated use of this procedure, which will assist in the continual improvement of household sorting, consists of the following four consecutive steps: (i) evaluating the current sorting behavior; (ii) identifying appropriate interventions; (iii) implementing the interventions, and; (iv) assessing the quantitative effect of the interventions. This procedure follows action research methodology and it is the first time that such a procedure has been developed and implemented for the sorting of household waste. The procedure can easily be adapted to any source separation system (which may have different local situations) and, by improving the source separation, will increase the resource recovery in the waste management system. The RBT procedure, together with its strengths and weaknesses, is discussed in this paper, and its implementation is exemplified by a pilot study done in Sweden.