Reliable Waste Disposal And Clean Towns: Creating Sustainability By Involving The Local Population. Ute Kerber, L Q M

Transcription

1 Reliable Waste Disposal And Clean Towns: Creating Sustainability By Involving The Local Population Ute Kerber, L Q M

2 Contact Ute Kerber L Q M Market Research (Lindauer Qualitäts- & Marktforschung) Ritterstraße Mainz +49/ / Executive Summary Public space is more and more frequented by various social groups. Patterns of behaviour have been changing, for example, by mobility, events, spontaneous activities. As a result, the amount of waste has increased. City cleaning and waste management contribute to citizen value (or: produce citizen value) and create quality of life for all inhabitants of a city or town. To solve the dilemma of rising expectations and limited resources, the people benefiting from a clean and pleasant environment must be motivated to support these efforts. To evaluate the potential for citizen commitment we conducted a telephone survey to find answers for the three main questions: How can we stimulate sustainable and continuous citizen involvement? Is there a potential of citizen commitment? What do citizens prefer: Paying or working for their own citizen values? The results of the survey show: There is a large potential to stimulate citizen involvement in their own neighbourhood: Citizens are willing to do something to improve their direct environment and they tend to be more willing to contribute on a voluntary basis than to pay higher fees. The proportion of those citizens who would be willing to get involved in city cleaning and neighbourhood commitment could be a stable basis for sustainable and continuous citizen involvement. Thus, more communication is the challenge that public waste management und street cleaning enterprises are facing.

3 Introduction It seems so natural to citizens and business to get the streets cleaned, to enjoy clean and safe public parks and to have the waste disposed. At low costs public streets, places, parks and residential neighbourhoods should be clean and safe, waste disposal and waste management must work reliably and ecologically. Responsibility seems to be lying in the hands of some anonymous institution like federal government, state government, local government or public service. Municipal waste management and city cleaning are subject to all kinds of challenges and restrictions. General operating conditions are getting more and more demanding. Waste disposal / waste management have to fulfil strict legal and environmental regulations. City cleaning contributes to enhance and improve the image of the city or town. All services related to waste management and city cleaning have to be provided in a customer-oriented manner. Economic efficiency is the top priority. Often, it is politically impossible to raise higher fees or taxes. Thus, the scope of action is limited. Way out of the dilemma: Public involvement Public space is more and more frequented by various social groups. Patterns of behaviour have been changing, for example, by mobility, events, spontaneous activities. As a result, the amount of waste has increased. City cleaning and waste management contribute to citizen value and create quality of life for all inhabitants of a city or town. To solve the dilemma of rising expectations and limited resources, the people benefiting from a clean and pleasant environment must be motivated to support these efforts. We already have a number of encouraging examples, where communities successfully involve their inhabitants. Nowadays, there are street cleaning events being conducted in almost every town, usually also involving schools and kindergartens. Unfortunately, these events still seem to be one-day actions and do not result in sustainable citizen involvement. How can we stimulate sustainable and continuous citizen involvement? Is there a potential of citizen commitment? What do citizens prefer: Paying or working for their own citizen values? Potential of citizen involvement in three German towns To evaluate the potential for citizen commitment a telephone survey among citizens of three towns was conducted in October 2010: in Hamburg as a big city, in Offenbach, a medium-sized town in an industrialized area and in Fürstenfeldbruck, a small town with rural environment near Munich. In each city / town, a random sample of 100 inhabitants was questioned in a short telephone interview. Each of these places has a different concept of waste disposal and street cleaning. What combines them is their target to stimulate citizen involvement. Although the concepts of waste collection differ significantly, inhabitants share a similar attitude. Cleanliness of public streets and low fees for waste disposal seem important.

4 Fig. 1: Reducing waste disposal fees by increasing citizen activities Different waste management concepts determine different attitudes. While Hamburg offers bins for collecting domestic waste, paper, organic waste and a yellow bin for recyclable packaging, Offenbach has no bin for organic waste and Fürstenfeldbruck offers no yellow bin. Although in Fürstenfeldbruck recycable packaging is not picked up at the house, many citizens do separate this waste fraction in their household. Being aware that their efforts enable this cost efficient waste management system, the citizens in Fürstenfeldbruck are actively engaged in separating and disposing of waste fractions at the recycling stations. Fig. 2:

5 Although 89% of the respondents do not know the fee for waste disposal a remarkable part of them is dissatisfied with the costs. Only the citizens in Fürstenfeldbruck seem to appreciate the comparably low fees for waste disposal. Asking citizens in Hamburg and Offenbach if they would be willing to take separate waste fractions to recycling stations, if this saved part of the fees for waste disposal, a realistic price reduces the potential. Almost 50% at Fürstenfeldbruck would not mind to pay a little more for more comfort. Fig. 3 Clean Towns: Locational Advantage Even more visible than clean waste management is a clean environment. Clean cities have a locational advantage. Clean and safe streets, public places and parks contribute to a positive image of the city or town. A clean neighbourhood increases quality of life and is a citizen value. Usually, the concept of street cleaning has two components: municipal responsibility for main streets and highways and personal responsibility of local residents for side-walks and minor streets. In general, citizens are not very satisfied with the cleanliness of their towns. The inhabitants of Fürstenfeldbruck are more satisfied with the cleanliness of their town, but this is not the case in Hamburg and Offenbach.

6 Fig. 4 Encouraging: There is a chance to involve citizens and there is a large potential to stimulate citizen involvement in their own neighbourhood. One out of five citizens are willing to do something to improve their direct environment. The willingness to contribute is the highest in rurally structured Fürstenfeldbruck, and the lowest in Offenbach. Persons already working on a voluntary basis are also more willing to contribute to the cleanliness of their neighbourhood. Voluntary cleaning of public spaces seems to have the highest potential of successfully involving citizens in the cleanliness of their town; partnerships are the least accepted way. Fig. 5

7 In Offenbach, a continuous programme to encourage citizens to engage for their neighbourhood and thus for a better Offenbach has been running for several years. In Hamburg, municipal initiatives (BID, HID, NID) have been developed and started. Their aim is to involve business and residents (not only financially) in order to improve their environment and the structure of their neighbourhoods. In Offenbach, most respondents have heard of the town s initiative. Although NID in Hamburg is rather new, a quarter is aware of it. Fig. 6 Conclusions There is a large potential to stimulate citizen involvement in their own neighbourhood. Citizens tend to be more willing to contribute on a voluntary basis than to pay higher fees. At the same time, citizens definitely do not know how much they pay for waste management and city cleaning; they only have the feeling, that they pay too much. Thus, there still is a potential for higher fees, especially as even respondents who feel informed usually overestimate the amount they pay. Only in Fürstenfeldbruck where low fees for waste management have been a public topic in media and politics for years at least some people have a realistic view of what they pay. Being aware that their efforts enable this cost efficient waste management system, the citizens in Fürstenfeldbruck are actively engaged in separating and disposing of waste fractions at the recycling stations. Despite these positive aspects, we must state that more than half of the respondents do not take packaging to the recycling stations as required. This also applies to hazardous waste where the collection system is less comfortable. Communication is the challenge that public waste management und street cleaning enterprises are facing. Services and performance as well as fees for waste management und street cleaning have to be communicated and explained to the public.

8 Additionally, residents responsibility for their housing environment should be strengthened. The proportion of those citizens who would be willing to get involved in city cleaning and neighbourhood commitment could be a stable basis for sustainable and continuous citizen involvement. Public enterprises should make use of this potential and stimulate citizen participation more actively with improved communication strategies. This also applies to financial commitment: To a certain extent, citizens would accept higher fees it they get the feeling that this increases their quality of life.