PETcore Column “Of collections and men”

HOME ARCHIV 2003 01.12.2003 PETcore Column “Of collections and men”
 

If price has something to do with the decision by a municipality to go for one approach rather than another, it is certainly not the sole criterion that should be taken into account. Population density, frequency of collection, topography of the city and cultural habits all have to be considered in order to select the most appropriate system in a given situation.

A high population density for example, optimises the elevated price of kerbside collection: more material will be collected because there are more households and (since this type of collection is very convenient) because consumers are more willing to separate their waste.

In this case however, collection needs to be organised quite regularly, as densely populated areas mean smaller housing and thus less storage room.

The topography of the city must also be considered. Lorries must have enough room to circulate and pick up bags, or to empty igloos without causing traffic jams or getting jammed themselves.

As for cultural habits, they count more than one may think. Those people accustomed, for a number of historical reasons, to bringing waste to collection points will continue to do so for any new material. Whereas those for whom such a system is a complete novelty might just require that additional effort, which will make the system less effective than it could be.

As can be seen, a key factor in successful collection is the willingness of consumers to separate their trash. What certainly pushes people to collect recyclables is the realisation that their efforts are rewarded, that recyclables are indeed recycled! With PET we have it easy: not only is it recycled in a wide range of products, but the development of the bottle-to-bottle application will make it even more evident to the population that the material is not only collected, but recovered and truly recycled.