Door to door selective waste collection and the effects on waste prevention

Municipalities that have implemented the door to door (DtD) selective waste collection experience a significant waste reduction: Waste generation per capita in the Catalan cities and towns shows an average decrease of 15.3% (weighted by population) comparing the generation before and after the implantation of the DtD waste collection scheme, according to a study conducted by the Association and ENT Foundation in 2013. The results of waste reduction achieved with the introduction of door to door schemes are listed below.

Waste reduction achieved after the implementation of door to door waste collection schemes.

Only experiences where DtD collection applies to more than 90% of the population have been included.

Waste reduction achieved after the implementation of door to door waste collection schemes.
Waste prevention achieved during the first two years after the implementation reaches 15.3% of waste prevention. Then this tends to stabilize.

When comparing the prevention achieved between the different types of door to door waste collection schemes, results obtained are lower in the case of 2-fractions DtD schemes than those obtained in schemes in which more fractions are collected door to door.

Waste reduction achieved after implementing different door to door waste collection schemes, depending on the number of fractions collected door-to-door.

 

No other schemes achieve this reduction in waste generation. These are some of the main causes:

1. Avoided collection of non-municipal waste.

This is considered one of the most important reasons that explain the achieved waste reduction. With the implementation of DtD collection, most street containers are removeds, and so it ceases the collection of non-municipal waste that were irregularly disposed of in them, such as some industrial waste, green waste from professional gardeners, construction waste, etc. Once the street containers are removed, these forms of illegal disposal become more visible and thus easier detect and prevent.