Factors Influencing the Implementation of Community-Wide Recycling Programs

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine how the social, economic, political, and administrative factors within a community influence the implementation of community-wide recycling programs. More specifically, this study examined how factors such as urban or rural character, population size, and public/private partnerships influence recycling decisions. The study explored the steps that could be taken to implement a community-wide recycling program and examined how factors such as the size ofthe community's population and its urban or rural nature influence decisions to implement community-wide recycling programs. A mixed methods approach, with a focus on interviews with recycling officials, was used to answer these questions. Twenty-eight themes in eleven categories were identified. These thematic categories included factors influencing the implementation of successful recycling programs, social factors, economic/financial factors, administrative factors, partnerships, costs, and community structure. These themes relate directly to factors that influence the implementation of a recycling program; as such these factors must be considered when implementing a community-wide recycling program. Additionally, they should be taken into consideration within communities that already have a community-wide recycling program.