TY - JOUR
T1 - Impact of COVID-19 lockdown measures on waste production behavior in Lisbon
AU - Sarmento, Pedro
AU - Motta, Marcel
AU - Scott, Ian
AU - Pinheiro, Flávio L.
AU - Neto, Miguel de Castro
N1 - Sarmento, P., Motta, M., Scott, I., Pinheiro, F. L., & De Castro Neto, M. (2022). Impact of COVID-19 lockdown measures on waste production behavior in Lisbon. Waste Management, 138(February), 189-198. [Advanced online publication on 7th December 2021]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2021.12.002 ----Funding Information: This work was supported by the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) – Telecommunications sector in the framework of project Urban Co-Creation Data Lab [INEA/CEF/ICT/A2018/1837945]. The research developed by Ian J. Scott was co-financed by the ERDF – European Regional Development Fund through the Operational Program for Competitiveness and Internationalization COMPETE 2020, the Lisbon Portugal Regional Operational Program – LISBOA 2020 and by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology – FCT under CMU Portugal Program, in the framework of project BEE2WasteCrypto [IDT-COP 45933]. The authors would also like to thank the Lisbon Urban Hygiene Department for the provided data used in this paper and the information regarding changes in the waste collection operations during the COVID-19 pandemic in the studied period.
PY - 2022/2/1
Y1 - 2022/2/1
N2 - The recent restrictions on mobility and economic activities imposed by governments due to the COVID-19 pandemic have significantly affected waste production and recycling patterns in cities worldwide. This effect differed both between cities and within cities as the measures of confinement adopted by governments had diverse impacts in different areas of cities, depending on their characteristics (e.g., touristic, or residential). In the present work, mixed waste collection areas were created, based on waste collection points, that define spatial units in which contextual data such as tourism and residential characteristics were aggregated. The difference in mixed waste collected compared with previous years was analyzed along with the impacts on recycling due to the modification in operations regarding waste collection during the lockdown. The results showed that despite the suspension of the door-to-door recycling system during the lockdown, this did not translate into an increase in the production of mixed waste, and the recycling levels of previous years have not been reached after the lockdown, indicating a possible change in recycling habits in Lisbon. The touristic and non-residential mixed waste circuits presented significantly reduced mixed waste production compared to the non-pandemic context. Also, tourist, mobility, and economic activity were measured to understand which factors contributed to waste production changes during the COVID-19 pandemic. While little evidence of a relationship with these exogenous variables was found at the citywide level, evidence was found at the waste collection circuit level.
AB - The recent restrictions on mobility and economic activities imposed by governments due to the COVID-19 pandemic have significantly affected waste production and recycling patterns in cities worldwide. This effect differed both between cities and within cities as the measures of confinement adopted by governments had diverse impacts in different areas of cities, depending on their characteristics (e.g., touristic, or residential). In the present work, mixed waste collection areas were created, based on waste collection points, that define spatial units in which contextual data such as tourism and residential characteristics were aggregated. The difference in mixed waste collected compared with previous years was analyzed along with the impacts on recycling due to the modification in operations regarding waste collection during the lockdown. The results showed that despite the suspension of the door-to-door recycling system during the lockdown, this did not translate into an increase in the production of mixed waste, and the recycling levels of previous years have not been reached after the lockdown, indicating a possible change in recycling habits in Lisbon. The touristic and non-residential mixed waste circuits presented significantly reduced mixed waste production compared to the non-pandemic context. Also, tourist, mobility, and economic activity were measured to understand which factors contributed to waste production changes during the COVID-19 pandemic. While little evidence of a relationship with these exogenous variables was found at the citywide level, evidence was found at the waste collection circuit level.
KW - Mixed waste
KW - Recycled waste
KW - Waste collection circuit
KW - Tourism
KW - Residential
KW - COVID-19
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85120918709&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://www.webofscience.com/wos/woscc/full-record/WOS:000781133700008
U2 - 10.1016/j.wasman.2021.12.002
DO - 10.1016/j.wasman.2021.12.002
M3 - Article
SN - 1879-2456
VL - 138
SP - 189
EP - 198
JO - Waste Management
JF - Waste Management
IS - February
ER -