abstract: During the months from June to November 2012, the city of Bangalore was faced with a serious solid waste management (SWM) crisis. In the wake of the upheaval, the state court declared source segregation to be mandatory. Yet, while the legislation was clear, the pathway towards a course of action for the transition was not clear and hence, Bangalore was stuck in a state of limbo. The objectives for this thesis spiraled organically from this crisis. The first objective was to examine the gaps in Bangalore's transition to a more sustainable SWM system. Six particular gaps were identified, which in essence, were opportunities to re-shape the system. The gaps identified included: conflicting political agendas, the exclusion of some key actors, and lack of adequate attention to cultural aspects, provision of appropriate incentives, protection of livelihoods and promotion of innovation. Opportunities were found in better incentivization of sustainable SWM goals, protecting livelihoods that depend on waste, enhancing innovation and endorsing local, context based SWM solutions. Building on this understanding of gaps, the second objective was to explore an innovative, local, bottom-up waste-management model called the Vellore Zero Waste Model, and assess its applicability to Bangalore. The adaptability of the model depended on several factors such as, willingness of actors to redefine their roles and change functions, ability of the municipality to assure quality and oversight, willingness of citizen to source segregate, and most importantly, the political will and collective action needed to ensure and sustain the transition. The role of communication as a vital component to facilitate productive stakeholder engagement and to promote role change was evident. Therefore, the third objective of the study was to explore how interpersonal competencies and communication strategies could be used as a tool to facilitate stakeholder engagement and encourage collective action. In addressing these objectives, India was compared with Austria because Austria is often cited as having some of the best SWM practices in the world and has high recycling rates to show for its reputation. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Sustainability 2013

Magister Artium - MA / The oil industry is growing increasingly aware of its serious image problem. There is a growing awareness of the systematic abuses of people and the environment inherent in the production, processing and marketing of petroleum. (Rowell, 1997). From the Club of Rome to the Bruntland Report to Rio De Janeiro and Johannesburg Earth Summits, increased pressure on the oil industry has been witnessed. Pressure has mounted to, in particular, start managing the industry’s impact on the environment. It was the first pictures of earth from space, which revealed the view of the limited “spaceship earth”, after which Garrett Hardin’s seminal article, entitled ‘The Tragedy of the Commons’ triggered an understanding of the close links between the environment and our economic activity in 1974, Daniel Yergin (1991) argues. Today the oil industry is facing ‘peak oil’ (the point in time when the maximum rate of petroleum extraction will be reached) and the looming fallout from environmental damage costs and disasters (Clyde,1996). It has been argued by Brain Clyde (1996) that the emergence of notions of ‘sustainable development’ and practice in the context of the oil industry, reifies global capitalism as the liberating and protecting force (Clyde, 1996). This thesis sets out to explore these notions of sustainable development and the ways in which they challenge (or not) the foundations of knowledge around environmentally ethical behaviour amongst large oil companies and the manner in which they manage, in particular, used oil. There is a growing body of research contained in the fields of Political Ecology and Industrial Ecology that points to the need for blame to be placed between multinational oil companies and national governments for failing in their mandate to protect the environment (Africa Institute, 2013 and Danida, 2012). This thesis argues that used oil management is not only the responsibility of oil companies but also that of national governments and suppliers in the general public. If the role of national governments is to create enabling conditions for the development of “fit for purpose” waste policy and regulations in order to lead or track “best practices” in used oil management, this thesis shows that more often than not, policy has either failed in practice or has not been developed owing to a lack of political will. The prospects for implementation of best practices typically speak to concepts of recycling, reuse and proper disposal in terms of Lansink’s Ladder (1979) concept (He was a Dutch member of parliament who presented a schematic presentation of the order of preference for waste management options, with disposal at the bottom and prevention at the top) of the “waste hierarchy” with which this study engages (Gertsakis and Lewis, 2003). The waste management hierarchy supports the approaches taken in studies in the field of Industrial Ecology which suggest practice-based solutions to waste oil and policy development. This thesis explores four contexts of waste management in Africa, focusing on comparisons between policy and practice in sites that I have worked at in Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia and relates these to South Africa. Waste management infrastructure to support used oil management is largely in poor shape or non-existent, whilst the gap between waste management policy and legislation and actual waste management practices appears to be widening. This is mainly due to ongoing capacity constraints or non-existence of waste management facilities for the different waste streams. As result of industrialization, urbanization and modernization of agriculture in Africa waste generation is expected to increase significantly. My interest in this research, and the major intention of this study came from my personal experience working as an environmental specialist in the petroleum industry, where I have witnessed poor waste oil practices as a result of inadequate infrastructural or waste disposal options. Exacerbating the problem, as I argue in the study, are poorly defined waste management policy/regulations with consequential severe environmental and health degradation.

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to increase the knowledge of how SMEs can promote the efficiency of their waste management processes. In particular, to identify the causes of employee non-compliance within waste management procedures. This overarching purpose of identifying causes of non-compliance and improving the process is reflected in the following research questions. RQ1: What are the causes of procedural employee non-compliance within current waste management processes? RQ2: How can current waste management processes be improved? Method – A single case study was carried out in order to answer the research questions. To gain insight in relevant theory supporting both the qualitative and quantitative data gathered in the case study, a literature review was conducted and acted as the foundation for the theoretical framework. The data was collected through means of observations and interviews. Results – The interviews revealed a moderate degree of non-compliance of employees in the waste process in SMEs. The factors influencing this non-compliance are primarily a lack of knowledge, brought on by improper introduction process and a general high degree of complexity. In order to improve the handling of waste, there should be a larger focus on a thorough introduction process in order to reduce the amount of short-term memory processing by employees. As for process specific improvements, removing wastes and standardization should be of primary concern. Lastly, in order to maintain social sustainability, the needs and experience of the employees should be considered before making improvements to waste management processes. Implications – This case study offers insights into what drives acts of non-compliance in waste management processes and possible improvements that can be derived from studying them. Therefore, this thesis can be used as a foundation for SMEs seeking to improve their waste management processes. Keywords – Waste, Waste Management, Social Sustainability, Processes, Process Improvement, Cognitive Ergonomics, Improvement Work, Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME).

Diversion rates of solid waste due to recycling and other efforts vary across communities for multiple reasons. Past research has provided demographic and attitudinal profiles of recyclers and non-recyclers at mainly the individual and household levels with some at the community level. Researchers have found both commonalities and variations in these profiles. Studies have also looked at how the structure of a recycling program influences recycling behavior. The question asked here is how community-level demographic and attitudinal characteristics interact with the structure of public recycling programs to influence aggregate rates of recycling participation and diversion in 40 cities in the western United States. The results of this study provide modest support for my hypotheses that when recycling programs are less convenient, demographics and attitudinal characteristics will explain more variation in diversion of waste at the community scale. Similarly, as recycling programs become more convenient, the roles of demographic and attitudinal factors (recycling friendliness) are expected to decrease. This study found increased recycling program convenience and less visible fee assessment structures were associated with higher rates of recycling among cities regardless of their degree of recycling friendliness. When recycling outcomes were cross tabulated with indicators convenience and fee assessment, low rates were generally found among cities with low program convenience and high rates were generally found among cities with high program convenience. Cities with less convenient programs were more likely to see higher rates of recycling when their underlying demographic and attitudinal attributes reflected characteristics that have been associated with increased recycling activity. However, when program convenience was high (and fee structures less visible) high rates of recycling were found across cities with both favorable and unfavorable demographic characteristics. I use case-specific detailed narratives to explore the factors that influence outcomes among selected cities that did or did not meet my expectations.

Abstract Not Provided. / Thesis / Candidate in Philosophy

No description available.

No description available.

Each year a large number of wooden pallets are manufactured, recycled, and disposed of during the transportation of goods throughout the United States. The production of these pallets consumes a significant amount of wood and a large number of pallets also end up in landfills at the end of their useful life cycle. However, these pallets can be recovered through repair, broken apart into components, ground into mulch, fuel, animal bedding, or used by landfills for day to day operations. The purpose of this research was to investigate the total number of pallets and crates reaching landfills in the United States as well as to gain a better understanding of the overall waste stream. This was done by surveying all licensed Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) and Construction and Demolition (CandD) landfills in the continental United States. A questionnaire was sent to these landfills, and this entire study was intended to build upon previous Virginia Tech landfill surveys conducted in 1995 and 1998 with some changes made after careful review. Overall, it was found the average MSW facility in the United States received 185,077 tons of waste and the average CandD facility received 74,911 tons. This results in a total national estimate of 253 million tons of MSW and 76.9 million tons of CandD waste. Approximately 18.3 million pallets were landfilled and an additional 13.8 million were recovered, repurposed, or reused at MSW facilities. At CandD facilities, approximately 19.2 million pallets were landfilled while 38.3 million were recovered. / Master of Science / Millions of wooden pallets are involved in the transportation of goods each year and have a major role in the global distribution system. The production of these pallets consumes large volumes of wood that may end up in landfills when their life cycles have been completed. Generally, wood is a desirable natural resource and landfilling is the least desirable method of waste management. However, pallets can be recovered through repair, broken apart into components, or ground into mulch, fuel, animal bedding, or used by landfills for day to day operations. The purpose of this research was to investigate the total number of pallets and crates reaching pallets in the United States as well as to gain a better understanding of the overall waste stream. This was done by surveying over 2500 licensed Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) and Construction & Demolition (C&D) landfills in the continental United States through mail questionnaire with an option to be completed online. Overall, it was found the average MSW facility in the United States received 185,077 tons of waste per year and the average C&D facility received 74,911 tons. This results in a total national estimate of 253 million tons of MSW and 76.9 million tons of C&D waste. Approximately 18.3 million pallets were landfilled and an additional 13.8 million were recovered, repurposed, or reused at MSW facilities. At C&D facilities, approximately 19.2 million pallets were landfilled while 38.3 million were recovered. This represents a decrease in the number of pallets landfilled and an increase in the number recovered when compared to the surveys conducted in 1995 and 1998 by Corr et al.

In general, the improper disposal of waste may hinder the constitutional guarantee of a right to an environment to human health or well-being. This is especially true of domestic solid waste, a particular area of the waste stream frequently disposed of on South Africa's vacant land, rivers and streets amongst other. There is need therefore for municipalities as locally based authorities that are constitutionally bestowed with specific functions and duties in relation to waste, to ensure effective domestic solid waste management. The aim of this study is to investigate the content and design of some legal instruments aimed at domestic solid waste management in two municipalities of South Africa’s Limpopo Province namely the Lephalale and Greater Tzaneen Municipalities. The investigation and critical analysis of the selected instruments are based on the content of South Africa’s national waste law and policy with respect to domestic solid waste management specifically. The study concludes with a number of observations and recommendations with respect to the investigation instrumentation of Lephalale and Greater Tzaneen Municipalities. / LLM (Environmental Law and Governance), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

In general, the improper disposal of waste may hinder the constitutional guarantee of a right to an environment to human health or well-being. This is especially true of domestic solid waste, a particular area of the waste stream frequently disposed of on South Africa's vacant land, rivers and streets amongst other. There is need therefore for municipalities as locally based authorities that are constitutionally bestowed with specific functions and duties in relation to waste, to ensure effective domestic solid waste management. The aim of this study is to investigate the content and design of some legal instruments aimed at domestic solid waste management in two municipalities of South Africa’s Limpopo Province namely the Lephalale and Greater Tzaneen Municipalities. The investigation and critical analysis of the selected instruments are based on the content of South Africa’s national waste law and policy with respect to domestic solid waste management specifically. The study concludes with a number of observations and recommendations with respect to the investigation instrumentation of Lephalale and Greater Tzaneen Municipalities. / LLM (Environmental Law and Governance), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014