Increased source separation of organic waste in cities through behavioural change

In recent decades, the Netherlands’ major cities have grown significantly. This growth is expected to continue in the foreseeable future. Despite this expansion, every city faces the challenge of reducing its impact on the environment and the climate. An important strategy with which to achieve this goal is transitioning towards a circular economy by using more waste as raw materials.

For major cities, a key issue is that residents living in high-rise buildings do not separate their waste properly. The residual waste streams still contain too many raw materials that cannot be recycled in a sufficiently qualitative manner through subsequent separation. Among other things, this is due to a lack of (storage) space in and around the home, communal waste bins without ownership and a general lack of social cohesion and control.