Increasing participation in rational municipal waste management—a case study analysis in Jaslo City (Poland)

Abstract

In the City of Jaslo (Poland), a separate household waste collection system was introduced in 1993. Although the system was extensively promoted, quality and quantity of recyclables remained low. The City Council looked at alternative ways of increasing residents’ participation in the City's integrated waste management services. The UK approach to public education (‘the Recycling Roadshow’ programme) has been modified and adopted by the City. The programme is based on visiting as many households as possible by home advisors-individuals selected from the local secondary schools and carefully trained in MSW management and communication principles. Home advisors inform residents about the local waste recycling system, conduct a short survey and provide people with specific educational materials. To date, advisors have visited 14% of the City's households including the tenement block estates. The survey results show that nearly 75% of respondents actively recycled at least one type of scrap material, whilst of those that did not, 50% claimed they would. The educational campaign produced not only an increase in recycled tonnage, but also in material types and recycling rates from both the tenement block estates and the private housing areas of the City. The impact varied for the different materials in the domestic waste stream, with the greatest improvement in paper recycling, and a significantly lower impact for glass. The City Council was so pleased with the campaign results that it has decided to extend the programme and the funding for another year. This paper discusses in detail the programme and the results achieved. Recommendation are made regarding those features of the campaign that need to be included in other local MSW management campaigns and programmes across Poland in order to maximise their effectiveness.