Euro-trash: searching Europe for a more sustainable approach to waste management

How an economically affordable, environmentally effective and socially acce ptable municipal solid waste management system can be developed is currentl y unclear. Considerable research has been carried out on the practical aspe cts of municipal waste management (i.e. transport, treatment and disposal) and how citizens feel about source separation, recycling, incineration and landfill but the perspective of the waste manager within the context of lon g term planning is often ignored. In this study, waste managers from 11 dif ferent leading-edge European municipal solid waste programs in nine differe nt countries were interviewed. The economic, social, political, environment al, legal and technical factors of their specific programs were explored ac id analyzed. The transition of municipal solid waste management to urban re sources management was observed and key 'system drivers' for more sustainab le waste management practices were identified. Programs visited were: Bresc ia (I), Copenhagen (DK), Hampshire (UK), Helsinki (FI), Lahn-Dill-Kreis (D) , Malmo (SE), Pamplona (E), Prate (I), Saarbrucken (D), Vienna (A), and Zur ich (CH). (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.