PUBLIC PERCEPTION OF CURRENT AND FUTURE HOUSEHOLD WASTE RECYCLING METHODS: A CASE STUDY OF THE VILLAGE OF SAUGHALL, CHESTER.

Abstract

Household waste recycling methods differ between UK local authorities in several ways. This includes; containers used for collection, frequency of collection, what materials are collected and the processing of materials after collection, amongst other aspects. Increased pressure is put upon local authorities to increase waste prevention and rates of reuse and recycling in order to meet UK and EU legislation. Local authorities are meeting this through several methods, including introduction of new items to the household waste service (for example collection of food waste), or introduction of an entirely new system with different containers and collection frequencies. This occurred during 2012 in Cheshire West and Chester Council (CWCC).
Meeting legislation is a legal obligation, making it of high priority. However, whatever system is in place, the local authority will rely on the household participation. Therefore the public perception of household waste recycling methods is also of high priority.
Perception of a system may differ depending on the system in place. In addition to this, perceptions may differ for several reasons including; the age of residents, number living within an individual household and household type (for example terraced compared to detached). With the system change being rolled out towards the end of 2012, this study used 2 postal surveys in the village of Saughall, within CWCC.
These surveys assessed the perceptions of residents on the household waste method in place before the new system was rolled out, and after. Analysis showed a major negative perception towards the new system. It is taken into account whether CWCC accounted for the perception of residents before a new system was decided upon.