Attitudes and Behaviour towards Non Household Waste Management in the Dublin, Ireland Region

The hypothesis of this research was that attitudes and behaviours towards the management of biodegradable municipal waste (BMW) are spatially variable among the commercial sector (non-household sector), even within a city of modest (1.2 million) population. For a select number of representative electoral districts in the Dublin, Ireland region, businesses were surveyed regarding attitudes and behaviours towards waste management in general, and BMW management in particular. A total of 100 establishments were invited to fill in surveys with 71 completed surveys collected. Doorto-door interviews produced 20 responses; these were supplemented by 51 responses to a web-based survey. This resulted in a 71% response rate for the waste survey. It also showed the preference among businesses to the use of web-based survey modality rather than face-to-face interviews. Statistical analyses of the survey responses showed the majority of commercial respondents (34%) regarded “reducing the amount of waste generated” as the most important future issue they face. The majority of privately owned businesses (as opposed to publically owned enterprises, such as schools) believe they should pay for waste management services. These statistical results proved the hypothesis of the research and demonstrated that waste management initiatives designed for one area of the city (or, indeed, for uniform application to the city as a whole) could ignore the needs of some sectors. The survey responses suggest that targeted intervention strategies would lead to improved diversion rates of BMW from landfill, a requirement of the Landfill Directive 1999/31/EC.