title: Involvement of citizens in hazardous waste management and use of recycling centres in the city of Madrid (Spain).
abstract: In Spain, hazardous household waste management by citizens occurs via fixed recycling centres (FRC) and mobile recycling centres (MRC) which usually depend on local governments. This paper addresses a request by the Madrid City Council, in an attempt to improve the service it provides to the city of Madrid. The aim of the study involved analysing the information people possess in relation to hazardous waste and to the use of available equipment, and conducting a post-evaluation of the effectiveness of an environmental communication campaign conducted by the Madrid City Council and aimed at providing awareness of the existence of new FRCs and MRCs. To this end, a questionnaire was conducted with 5644 inhabitants of the city of Madrid. Qualitative data was categorized using content analysis followed by chi-squared tests, considering some socio-demographic characteristics of the sample, such as age or place of residence (district). Communication campaigns influenced citizen awareness of what constituted hazardous waste, of how to properly separate waste and of the existence of FRCs and MRCs. However, few citizens actually used FRCs or MRC (18% across four districts), a fact that might be related to a lack of knowledge of downstream waste treatment issues, or to self-limiting hindrances to householders, such as distance to recycling centres. It is recommended that future communication campaigns investigate householder needs and pre-conceptions in relation to recycling, as well as tailored education aimed at addressing the barriers, perceived or otherwise, facing citizens.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ecología, C-209, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain. mariajose.diaz@uam.es
authors.forename: María José
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Díaz
authors.forename: Elvira
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Martínez
authors.forename: Concepción
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Piñeiro
authors.forename: Mireya
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Palavecinos
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Benayas
authors.forename: M Angeles
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Toribio
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002947:Cities; D003256:Community Participation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005191:Family Characteristics; D006256:Hazardous Waste; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011639:Public Opinion; D059027:Recycling; D013030:Spain; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D018505:Waste Management / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D006256:Hazardous Waste