Boosting Separate Collection of Dry Recyclables With Door-to-Door Bio-Waste Collection in EU Capitals

In this study we investigate whether door-to-door bio-waste collection contributes to boosting the collection of dry recyclables such as glass, metal, paper and plastic in 28 European Union capitals (pre-Brexit). Employing Multiple Linear Regression (MLR), we sequentially test for 13 control variables including six, related to different waste management system and seven controls related to urban, economic and political aspects. We find evidence that door-to-door bio-waste collection is associated with greater amounts of separately collected dry recyclables. Cities with door-to-door bio-waste collection, on average, sort 60 kilograms per capita per year more of dry recyclables. Although the causal mechanisms behind such a relationship need further investigation, this finding indicates that European Union waste management could benefit from a stronger promotion of door-to-door bio-waste collection. The MLR models were built using R programming language while controlling for six waste management system related variables (PAYT system, glass bring points, metal bring points, door-to-door paper collection, door-to-door plastic collection and number of other collection systems) as well as seven additional control variables: two urban indicators (population and population density), two economic indicators (GDP per capita, material and social deprivation ratio) and three political indicators (the ratio of environmentally aware citizens, governing party’s position on the environment and level of trust in local government). The dataset is assembled of data from various sources which are referenced in the excel file with extended data. The R code and R data file are also provided.

本研究以英国脱欧前的28个欧盟首都为研究对象，探讨上门厨余生物垃圾回收（door-to-door bio-waste collection）是否有助于提升玻璃、金属、纸张与塑料等干式可回收物的收集量。本研究采用多元线性回归（Multiple Linear Regression, MLR）模型，依次检验13项控制变量：其中6项与不同垃圾管理体系相关，剩余7项则涉及城市、经济与政治层面。研究结果显示，上门厨余生物垃圾回收与干式可回收物的分离收集量提升存在显著关联：实施该回收模式的城市，人均每年可多分拣60千克干式可回收物。尽管二者间关联的因果机制仍需进一步探究，但本研究结果表明，欧盟垃圾管理体系可通过加强推广上门厨余生物垃圾回收模式实现收益提升。本研究的多元线性回归模型均基于R编程语言构建，控制变量共包含6项垃圾管理体系相关指标：按量付费垃圾回收系统（Pay As You Throw, PAYT）、玻璃回收投放点、金属回收投放点、上门回收纸张服务、上门回收塑料服务及其他回收系统数量；另有7项额外控制变量：2项城市指标（人口总量与人口密度）、2项经济指标（人均GDP、物质与社会匮乏率）以及3项政治指标（环保意识公民占比、执政党环保立场、对地方政府的信任度）。本数据集整合自多渠道数据源，详细来源可参见附带扩展数据的Excel文件。研究同时提供R代码与R数据文件。