Abstract
Recycling and recovery provide not only a sustainable option to decrease the volume of waste that needs final disposal, but also a blueprint to a circular economy. However, rates of recycling/recovery still remain very low on a global scale. While it is important to look for technology-based solutions to improve recycling/recovery activities, such solutions might not be necessarily affordable in many countries. A solution that involves the active participation of the population, on the other hand, has the potential to succeed in any country. The challenge is to attract and unite people to achieve such common goals. The theory of collective action and the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework, that have been originally used in resource management, are two concepts that can be adapted to organize recycling/recovery initiatives. This manuscript discusses what recycling/recovery programs can learn from the theory of collective action and the IAD framework, through a qualitative comparative study of such initiatives from three different cities. They are; Curitiba in Brazil, Padang in Indonesia, and Akure in Nigeria. The cases show the potential benefits of both concepts, not only in formulating and implementing recycling/recovery programs but also in making corrective measures for continuous improvements. All cases also showed the importance of increasing awareness-raising to change public perception towards waste from being a nuisance to a valuable resource.
Highlights
Global waste generation reached 2 billion tons/year in 2016, and it is estimated to grow to3.4 billion tons/year by 2050 [1]
This research focused on how recycling/recovery programs may benefit from two relatively established concepts in the economic and social sciences that were originally used for managing natural resources: one is the theory of collective action, and the other is the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework
The following conclusions and observations were made after a qualitative comparative study of the three cases from Curitiba, Brazil, Padang, Indonesia, and Akure, Nigeria, using the above concepts
Summary
Global waste generation reached 2 billion tons/year in 2016, and it is estimated to grow to. 3.4 billion tons/year by 2050 [1]. Population growth is not the only reason for this expected increase in waste generation; changing consumption habits resulting from increased purchasing power is a significant factor. We will face resource scarcity issues thanks to the same two reasons: population growth and increasing consumption habits. It is interesting to note the same waste, that we see as a problem, is offering a valuable partial solution to the resource scarcity issue through recycling and recovery, together with a blueprint towards a circular economy [4]. The circularity of the global economy has decreased from 9% in 2018 to 8.6% in 2020 as per the last two Circularity Gap Reports [5,6]
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