Environmentally Friendly Disposal Behaviour and Local Support Systems: lessons from a metropolitan area.

The amount of household refuse has steadily increased in Sweden and this is consistent with the trend in the rest of the European Union. Strategies for household waste reduction includes sorting, recycling, re-use and repair. Two categories of motivational factors determine disposal behaviour, external and internal. The external factors include administrative, economic, information and physical measures. The internal factors include knowledge, values and attitudes of individuals. Environmentally friendly disposal behaviour is best achieved when external and internal motivational factors argue for performing activities benign to the environment. We examined how disposal behaviour in a metropolitan area was or was not supported by motivational factors and how households perceived their own disposal behaviour. The data was collected by interviewing households and by studying the facilities for recycling and re-use. The results show that the inhabitants sort most paper and glass and that they are satisfied with the facilities. The external motivational factors for this behaviour are very strong with numerous bins and ample information. Concerning re-use and repair, there are no strong motivational factors provided for by the local authorities. The households do not value this behaviour as environmentally important. For the future, local support systems for re-use and repair should be strengthened if waste amounts are to be decreased.