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*Corresponding author email: zeinab.Ghaempana@gmail.com
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Cross-Cultural Assessments and Stakeholder
Consultancy towards Resource Waste Reduction and
Climate Change Prevention
C. Hornsby1, 2*, Nicholas Head3, Evangelia Ploumistou4, S. Ulgiati2
1 I.A.R., Department of Processing and Recycling, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, 52062,
Germany.
2Department of Sciences and Technologies, Parthenope University of Naples, 80143 Naples, Italy.
3University of Northampton, Newton Building, Avenue Campus, St George’s Avenue, Northampton,
NN2 6JD, UK.
4Envireco S.A. 9 Spefsipou, Athens, 10675, Greece.
SOJ Psychology Open Access
Research Article.
Received: January 1, 2017; Accepted: May 9, 2017; Published: May 15, 2017
*Corresponding author: C. Hornsby, I.A.R., Department of Processing and Recycling, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, 52062, Germany. Email: hornsby@ifa.
rwth-aachen.de
Abstract
Concerns are growing across the board about the increasing resource demand by society and the poor way in which society has been dealing
with waste and recovery of natural resources. It is clear that the time of what seemed to be abundant and cheap natural resources is coming to an
end with the growing needs of a ever increasing global population combined with concerns about the security of supply of many essential materials,
energy and products. At the same time, there is a rise in interest in understanding coming from different stakeholder groups in the sustainable
management of natural resources and protection of the environment, linked with civil society’s concerns about the continuing and growing practise
been dealing with waste and recovery of natural resources. It is clear that the time of what seemed to be abundant and cheap natural resources
is coming to an end with the growing needs of a ever increasing global population combined with concerns about the security of supply of many
essential materials, energy and products. At the same time, there is a rise in interest in understanding coming from different stakeholder groups in
the sustainable management of natural resources and protection of the environment, linked with civil society’s concerns about the continuing and
Concerns voiced by stakeholders and the disappointing track record of waste management decisions is now so pressing that it is
inconceivable to adopt new technologies without closely involving stakeholders at each stage and each level and assess social acceptance levels.
Extraction and re-use of waste sourced biomass, after initial treatment in MBT plants, as a renewable biomass fuel could provide one possible
different EU countries?
out a common cross-cultural assessment of acceptance levels to a boosted recycling process to recover a renewable biomass fuel, and to show what
the obstacles and opportunities are to an appropriate and environmentally sound decision-making process for better governance in sustainable
solid waste management. All in all, a project or proposal might be technically feasible and environmentally sound, but might not be accepted by
stakeholders for a set of reasons that have nothing to do with technicalities or environmental constraints. The problem is not to identify the most
local context where it should be applied.
The countries studies have shown that there are similar concerns between local authority decision makers regarding MSW; however
solutions, and it is simply not easy to transpose one successfully demonstrated technology from one country to another. Any study that bases
its analysis on technology choice, LCA or even advance multi-criteria analyses without socio-psychological analyses will not present an accurate
picture of stakeholder acceptability. The acceptability and chances for successful implementation based on new technologies rely on a multiplicity of
complex factors such as social acceptance, political climate, level of infrastructures, investment opportunities, including the state of play in the waste
management systems already in place. The results obtained in the cross cultural studies have highlighted the stark differences between the countries
under study, in spite of common EU legislation, and in readiness to take up new technologies, and certainly brought other important psychological
issues to light.
Keywords: Stakeholder participatory actions; Municipal waste management; Recycling; Cross cultural assessments; Science for
governance
hornsby@ifa.rwth-aachen.de
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Citation: Memaryan N, Ghaempanah Z, Seddigh R (2017) Spiritual interventions in Iran: A review article. SOJ Psychol 3(1): 1-5.
Spiritual interventions in Iran: A review article Copyright:
© 2017 Ghaempanah, et al.
Nomenclature
AEA - Annual Emission Agreement; Efw - energy
from waste; AD – Anaerobic Digestion; ETS – Emission
Trading Scheme; EUA - EU Allowances; EVZ - Entsorgungs-
Department of Processing and Recycling; NF metals – Non-ferrous
metals; SRF - Solid recovered fuels; UAB - Universitat Autònoma
de Barcelona; MMSW - Mixed Municipal Solid Waste; MSW -
Municipal Solid Waste; MBT - Mechanical Biological Treatment;
MARSS – Material Advanced Recovery Sustainable Systems; LCA -
Life Cycle Assessment; EC - European Commission; EU - European
Fuel; PAR – Participatory Appraisal Research; CR – Czech Republic;
Food and Rural Affairs; LACW – Local Authority Collected Waste;
PPP – Public Private Partnerships; CLO – Compost like Output.
Introduction
Problem background
The European Union has had the effect of bunching
together very different countries under common laws, which aim
to protect the environment and deal with common themes such
as waste, energy, and recovery of resources. This is no easy task
as each national country came into the EU portraying different
levels of development and having an array of different national
interests. In line with having to comply with EU common laws
after entry, there has been a growth in interest by stakeholders
EU-wide green economy and calls for good governance in the
sustainable management of natural resources and protection
of the environment. These interests are also linked with civil
society’s concerns about the continuing and growing practise
there is a need to understand the differences and similarities
between cross-cultural stakeholder groups when confronted by
an innovative technology and to engage the interested parties
in participatory stakeholder consultancies. These stakeholders
Not only is it important to properly identify the stakeholders
who are most concerned with the proposed implementation of a
technology or policy, but also it is also important to analyze their
actors are, their knowledge, interests, positions, alliances, and
importance related to the policy or plan allows policy makers
and managers to interact more effectively with key stakeholders
and determine levels of support for a given policy or change. This
paper assesses the importance of decision-support strategies
based on participatory stakeholder consultancies when
considering a possible introduction of an innovative technology
to produce a renewable biomass fuel from municipal solid waste;
a decision must be taken when a new technology or activity is
proposed.
Building consensus through stakeholder consultancy –
state of the art
Standard stakeholder consultancies cannot be
that true participation has to involve a high level of empowerment
of the public and a direct input into the decision process, and
criticized any approaches that seemed to be participative yet
gave no real powers to those consulted as is the way in many
transport planning, environmental issues, and health care and is
claiming the interest of academics, practitioners, regulators, and
governments. In fact, public participation has gone a long way
from local meetings to a lengthy legally based procedure as part
considered to be effective in building up consensus through a
participatory deliberative action, usually focusing on the local
community and stakeholders. This is part of the move towards a
renewal of local democracy in local authorities decisions, which
stating how this can be achieved and this process started a long
time ago [4]. The aim of this paper is not however to compare
the strengths and limitations of existing public participation
programmes and stakeholder consultation methods per se.
in itself but to name just a few, Abelson, et al. provides a useful
review of their respective advantages and weaknesses [5]. Susana
Aguilar Fernandez clearly laid down the basic EU principles of
subsidiarity highlighting the importance of shared responsibility
main point is the need and value in enabling citizens and local
communities to take part in environmentally related decisions
and much progress has been made in the last 15 years since this
publication in consultative programmes in planning processes
across the EU. Rowe & Frewer support her viewpoint and also go
into some detail about the necessary framework for evaluation
of the effectiveness of the methods used in public participation
programmes [7]. Petts evaluated the effectiveness of alternative
methods of stakeholder consultancies including citizens’ juries
used in waste management planning [8].
Role of PIA in understanding climate change and
sustainability issues
Cross-Cultural Assessments and Stakeholder Consultancy
towards Resource Waste Reduction and Climate Change
Prevention
Copyright:
© 2017 Hornsby.C, et.al.
Citation:
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Citation: Memaryan N, Ghaempanah Z, Seddigh R (2017) Spiritual interventions in Iran: A review article. SOJ Psychol 3(1): 1-5.
Spiritual interventions in Iran: A review article Copyright:
© 2017 Ghaempanah, et al.
that has led to the growth of Participatory methods of Integrated
Assessments (PIAs). There is an incompatibility here in that
climate change is measured over an extremely long time frame in
terms of thousands or millions of years. The sheer long length of
time is unimaginable really to all of us in real terms as we measure
time based on years in our own lifetimes, or in my generation.
So there is a clear difference between being concerned about
our children and grandchildren or perhaps people we will never
meet. We are more inclined to take care of and be concerned
with the present, while politicians are more inclined to promise
improvements for the future. Nevertheless, politicians need to
understand the concerns of their stakeholders. One could say that
the current collection of unimaginable amounts of data on the
Internet will soon be used to feed into participatory integrated
assessments in the future.
Assessments however with the difference that the role and level of
participation of stakeholders is central to achieving understanding
and results that feed into policy decisions. The motivation behind
the recent broad uptake of PIA has been directly due to the
increasing scope and complexity of the challenges such as climate
change and waste management being researched, with the
acceptance that no single discipline (based on a multi-discipline
to be used more for local regional projects where an immediate
for a new solid waste management recycling plant such as MARSS.
EU aspects of waste and stakeholder consultancy.
As all waste managers know, waste in one location is
not the same as in another and it constantly changes over time
needing different ways of dealing with it depending on the
and its management, is not a simple issue. It is also affected by the
demand for secondary materials, municipal resources, levels of
development, local/national environmental concerns, personal
an appropriate approach built up on a combination of tools that
each provide added value to the understanding, evaluation and
to take in that particular location. Cross cultural assessment
provide a means to achieve a deeper understanding of the inter-
play of economic, environmental, technical and social aspects
where each decision maker is working in a different and complex
cultural and historical background. The EU has set ambitious
targets to turn waste into a resource as a key part of the drive
towards a circular economy. Due to the recently agreed package
for circulating the EU economy, published on the 2nd December
2015, one can expect an increased interest on how or whether it
is feasible to achieve the 65% common recycling targets [9]. The
objectives and targets set out in a diverse number of European
as key drivers to improve solid waste management and reduce
and has a particular history in waste management. Other EU
Directives (e.g. The Netherlands, Austria, Sweden, among others
;) to a different extent [11]. In the early 1990’s, it was chosen to
solve the problems of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) treatment
others. At that time, CO2 emissions from plastic combustion were
not under direct scrutiny and climate change was not considered
still show a high level of consumer resistance to such incineration
technologies.
Other European countries have only just started to
decide on and set up their waste management systems and are
how to convince the consumers and stakeholders in different EU
countries to support and follow the same principles and laws
laid down by the EU whatever the economic situation in their
region. The wisdom of stakeholder consultation is no longer in
Consultation “Stakeholder consultation helps EU law making
to be transparent, well-targeted and coherent. It is enshrined in
the Treaties. Consultations - together with impact assessments,
transparent and informed policy-making” [12]. It is also becoming
increasingly clear that no decisions affecting the public domain,
such as in waste management, can be taken without embracing
a comprehensive stakeholder consultancy based on technical
transparency, economic and social constraints, environmental
standpoint and takes stakeholder consultancy a step further by
carrying it out in parallel in 5 countries based on the presented
technological option, namely the production of a recycled
recovered biogenic fuel from municipal rubbish.
The main challenges for the local
and regional authorities are to set up workable and sustainable
transparent integrated sustainability assessments, in compliance
with national/European waste management plans. This task
is not easy. Each year, EU member states are responsible for
producing over 2 billion tonnes of waste and local authorities
Cross-Cultural Assessments and Stakeholder Consultancy
towards Resource Waste Reduction and Climate Change
Prevention
Copyright:
© 2017 Hornsby.C, et.al.
Citation:
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Citation: Memaryan N, Ghaempanah Z, Seddigh R (2017) Spiritual interventions in Iran: A review article. SOJ Psychol 3(1): 1-5.
Spiritual interventions in Iran: A review article Copyright:
© 2017 Ghaempanah, et al.
at least have the support from local stakeholder groups so that
planning can proceed. This is the point where local stakeholders
management plan to see how it affects them personally. The
decision about which combination and level of processing
technologies, as well as the siting of these activities, is very
stakeholder groups is really essential if local waste management
authorities’ decisions are to be translated into effective action. In
many cases, local authorities are faced with strong opposition, so
that much time and money needs to be invested in dealing with the
fears and opinions of local community groups. A combination of
national and European waste policies and directives has helped to
drive up recycling and recovery rates, leading to an inherent shift
technologies to deal with over 66% MSW produced nation-wide.
between different EU countries.
Waste management as a viable business: Recent failures in
different EU countries have highlighted the fact that there are
even at a time where the same waste management strategies are
being used. The launch of new technologies is a major change on
several levels such as new business models and possible changes
of consumer’s habits. Professionals in solid waste companies are
no longer optimistic about future operations in spite of rapid
expansion. The largest multinational companies in the sector
are now Veolia and Suez, followed by FCC and Remondis to name
a few [14]. To show the extent of the multi-cultural operations,
Violia operates in Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark,
than forecasted because the industrial and commercial waste
markets have shrunk across the EU. Attempts are being made
contracts with municipalities. This is an important point as many
contracts can span over many years, locking in both sides with
years down the line. This puts an extra burden on the decision
makers, who need to push through fast and economically sensible
decisions on which solid waste management technology to use
is a need therefore to understand not only what has worked in
other EU countries, but also what the differences are between
the same stakeholder groups in culture and acceptance levels
in different countries. So there is a need to understand the
faced with choices or decisions for or against a chosen waste
management technology via stakeholder consultancies.
out cross-cultural international consultancies. The authors
also acknowledge that any system of communication using
and involving translation of language will be an inaccurate and
by many researchers since the notable paper many years ago
cultural preferences is probably the most important factor of
all [15]. Direct translation from one language to another cannot
Materials and Methods
The authors have based their stakeholder consultancy
on a case study run in Naples (Italy). The approach used of
participatory stakeholder consultancy generally enables and
empowers the local stakeholders towards sharing and analysing
their own knowledge of municipal waste management in
their regions and countries and the options/solutions that are
available. The authors also recognize the wealth and value of local
knowledge and information within the stakeholder communities
be impossible to understand the stakeholder’s points of views.
This methodology is in line with a move towards a people centered
approach (more known as Participatory Action Research, PAR) to
carry out research in communities that emphasizes participation
and action by local stakeholders who are clearly and sometimes
follow-up in-depth anonymous meetings for all interested parties
to attend and have the chance to air their views and opinions in
a discussion format. This is based on the concept of collaborative
PAR is not a monolithic body of ideas and methods but rather a
pluralistic orientation to knowledge-making and social change
[16]. This is also very much in line with Reason & Bradbury
Cross-Cultural Assessments and Stakeholder Consultancy
towards Resource Waste Reduction and Climate Change
Prevention
Copyright:
© 2017 Hornsby.C, et.al.
Citation:
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Citation: Memaryan N, Ghaempanah Z, Seddigh R (2017) Spiritual interventions in Iran: A review article. SOJ Psychol 3(1): 1-5.
Spiritual interventions in Iran: A review article Copyright:
© 2017 Ghaempanah, et al.
who participate as co-researchers [17].
Tools for stakeholders consultancy
Local expert’s teams (including the authors of this
consultancy programme. A common general country analysis
methodology was set up and followed in all investigated
countries. Focus points for the country studies were agreed with
the local experts before work began. A country analysis was then
carried out looking at the key stakeholder, with possible options
for inclusion of combustion of biomass fuels within the countries
existing and future infrastructures, as well as considering any
new laws recently adopted before the end of 2015.
Questionnaires:
stakeholder groups in their country, followed up with meetings
and interviews and providing assistance in interpretation of
that were most interested in MSW management as well as the
MARSS technology. In order to get responses from non-technical
stakeholders, in addition to putting the web on the MARSS web
site, a range of general public members were asked to be involved
including students, friends, families and academic teachers at
their universities. The authors admit that this may seem an ad
hoc approach, but it was important to get as many responses as
possible within the short remaining time of the EU funded project.
three key areas: general information about the stakeholder
identity, stakeholder knowledge, and stakeholders’ perceptions
information about stakeholders (gender, education, province
survey the goal was to understand how waste management,
collection and recycling are organized locally, how stakeholders
are informed about the ways to separate and collect waste, to
matters in their area/region/country. The interview guidelines
the partners and experts who had them translated and checked
before distribution in the local country language.
already been made of Naples as a special case study in Italy [18].
This provided good experience to then modify and optimise
the second rounds of consultancies in the other countries.
Stakeholder consultancies can be problematic when dealing
with sensitive issues therefore experience already gained in the
acceptance of a new technology proved to be very useful [19].
Web forms were prepared in electronic format in the
different languages for easy access and collection of responses.
key stakeholder groups and individuals. Face to face interviews
expert team consulting a wide range of stakeholders including
the government ministries, leading coal and cement producers,
students, municipal authorities, waste managers, recycling
protection associations, universities, and SMEs. Meetings were
also carried out with decision makers or leading associations in
the target countries to get an enhanced viewpoint on some issues.
Analyses of work carried out, including close attention to the
interview notes, was made to ascertain the potential applicability
of the new technology considering the existing market conditions
in the different countries.
The innovative waste management technology used in
the study
The MARSS technology was developed to produce
a Renewable Recovered Biomass Fuel (RRBF), as an EU-wide
option, in the frame of an EU Life Plus funded demonstration
project starting September 2012 and ended December 2015.
Napoli (Life Cycle Analyses) and the Universitat Autónoma de
Barcelona (Socio-economic integrated analyses). This project
Mertesdorf, which houses the MARSS demonstration plant. The
plant processes about 225,000 tonnes of residual Mixed Municipal
The main technical aim of the project is to demonstrate effective
recovery of organic fractions from mixed MSW and produce RRBF.
The MARSS plant has a throughput of 10tons per hour producing
an RRBF with a biomass purity of about 97% designated for
of the produced biomass fuel in a combustor was carried out by
are designed as an add-on system to existing MBT plants.
Research on the acceptability and environmental
impacts of the MARSS process was carried out by the team at the
University of Naples Parthenope using integrated assessments
including LCA, socio-economic assessments, and stakeholder
consultancies in Naples were carried out on the acceptability and
impacts of the MARSS process [21]. Their results from the LCA
of the proposed alternatives for MMSW management provides
Cross-Cultural Assessments and Stakeholder Consultancy
towards Resource Waste Reduction and Climate Change
Prevention
Copyright:
© 2017 Hornsby.C, et.al.
Citation:
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Citation: Memaryan N, Ghaempanah Z, Seddigh R (2017) Spiritual interventions in Iran: A review article. SOJ Psychol 3(1): 1-5.
Spiritual interventions in Iran: A review article Copyright:
© 2017 Ghaempanah, et al.
categories, although some performed much better than others.
Scenarios including conversion of waste into electricity and heat
suggest minor impacts on climate change and human toxicity but
larger loads on resource depletion due to increased fraction of
materials for plants. There was a mitigation of the impacts found
approach, scenarios capable to recover materials, such as metals,
The investigated systems
Waste Management in Germany – A reference case study.
considered one of the most advanced countries in solid waste
management. A large increase in waste volume in the 1980s, and
detectable environmental damages caused from the storage of
not pre-treated urban wastes, as well as polluted leachate and
the greenhouse methane gas emissions, led for search of better
disposal concepts. Waste experts recognised the need for pre-
Use of MBT technology in Germany:
total of around 25 % of urban waste using MBT technology (MBT
= Mechanica2l-Biological Waste Treatment). This technology is
that the material properties of residual wastes - which are
varying to a large extent - determine the selection, order and
(TASi) the pre-treatment for biologically degradable wastes with
waste incineration as the only accepted alternative option. The
TASi granted the public waste disposal authorities a transitional
period of 12 years to reorganise and restructure their plants.
The political stipulation on waste incineration plants as the
only technology was among experts at that time contradictorily
discussed and often couldn’t be realised and get a majority in the
municipalities. Public opinion showed resistance against waste
incineration plants because of expectations of air pollutions (e.g.
dioxins, heavy metals). A great many planning projects for waste
incineration plants failed and countrywide planning of projects
and the search for sites were withdrawn. In the early 90s, a large
the new moves towards closed loop waste management and
producer responsibilities and this was compounded by intense
political discussions about which method was more suitable for
new technologies (including Thermoselect etc), some of which
later proved not to be as useful or workable as they were claimed
to be. This led to a greater interest in one emerging technology
known as MBT, where waste is generally source separated, then
selected recyclables and other fractions sorted out, where the
biodegradable residues are stabilized or biologically treated
using either a composting or anaerobic digestion system. Figure
1 below shows the geographical location of the 48 MBT plants
and East, with only 2 plants in the South. The selected out high
fractions including organic materials, are called Refuse Derived
energy from waste combustion plants. Some MBT plants treat
the biogenic fractions using anaerobic digestion producing a
Figure 1:
Waste Management in the United Kingdom: Waste
Management is the individual responsibility of the four
size these are England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland).
This situation arises as a result of political devolution; however
as a Member State of the European Union the reporting of waste
Cross-Cultural Assessments and Stakeholder Consultancy
towards Resource Waste Reduction and Climate Change
Prevention
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Citation:
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Citation: Memaryan N, Ghaempanah Z, Seddigh R (2017) Spiritual interventions in Iran: A review article. SOJ Psychol 3(1): 1-5.
Spiritual interventions in Iran: A review article Copyright:
© 2017 Ghaempanah, et al.
leaving the EU are not known at this point. Prior to the turn of
gate fees, and recycling was in its relative infancy. For example,
only 7% of household waste was recycled in England in 1997/8.
Since that time the rate of recycling of household waste has risen
thinking in order to deliver the optimum application of the waste
hierarchy.
Use of MBT in the UK: Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT)
alternative for treating residual Local Authority Collected Waste
(LACW) , particularly in mainland Europe [25]. Such treatment
plants integrate mechanical processing, such as size reduction
and air processing, as well as bio drying (biological drying) in
combination with bioconversion reactors, such as composting or
anaerobic digestion [26]. Outputs (dried organic fractions with
of the waste hierarchy (primarily recovery – with energy from
waste) addressed, the policy focus for organic wastes in the United
of the organic fraction of LACW and dealing with these primarily
via composting and Anaerobic Digestion (AD). Indeed, the
the introduction in 2011 of an ‘Anaerobic Digestion Strategy for
England’ [28]. MBT plants are commonly used as a pre-treatment
to dry waste and produce a material that is suitable for treatment
is a considerable area in the context of the limited available land
in locations where the treatment could be utilised. Typically, the
technology has been utilised in conjunction with other treatment
and recovery technologies (e.g. with MRFs and AD plants prior
to EfW). The cost range of the technology is high compared with
other technologies at around £15-20m per facility [29]. Based on
the 2010 Waste Infrastructure Report, the Environment Agency
reported 19 permitted MBT facilities in England with a total
capacity is a theoretical maximum with the real throughput to
such facilities likely to be between 10-20% of this total.
Market conditions within the UK:
The global economic downturn and ensuing constraints
on Local Authority budgets has contributed to a situation where
residual LACW is increasingly being exported to Europe as public
sector contracts have shifted towards private sector delivery.
Increasingly expensive gate fees, transportation costs, and other
costs making export to European facilities (particularly in The
waste system(s) have largely driven this.
based capacity (particularly EfW). Indeed, the development
Figure 2:
Outlook UK: British Refused Derived Fuel (RDF) and Solid
Recovered Fuels (SRF) contain a very high proportion of organic
combusted in power stations, kilns and converted industrial
boilers and power plants as a substitute for or supplement
to conventional fossil fuels, such as coal or petroleum coke,
thus contributing to carbon reduction targets from the energy
market (as well as wider European market) has recently
of continued RDF/SRF export market development could peak
from materials and energy perspectives in light of developments
recycling outputs associated with MBT, when compared with
those of other waste treatment technologies; and the growing
operations; reduces the likelihood of RDF/SRF becoming a long-
Cross-Cultural Assessments and Stakeholder Consultancy
towards Resource Waste Reduction and Climate Change
Prevention
Copyright:
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Citation:
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Citation: Memaryan N, Ghaempanah Z, Seddigh R (2017) Spiritual interventions in Iran: A review article. SOJ Psychol 3(1): 1-5.
Spiritual interventions in Iran: A review article Copyright:
© 2017 Ghaempanah, et al.
The MARSS technological innovation, with its emphasis on
more attractive option for LA’s and private merchant facility
of the technological developments around MBT in general would
indicate only limited scope/opportunity for applying the MARSS
approach. The scale of organic fraction, which remains within the
for applying a technological innovation such as MARSS.
Greece country study and stakeholder consultancy
Current situation on Municipal Solid Waste Management in
Greece:
includes the actions of collection, transportation and disposal.
The legal framework that designates the direction of waste
European waste management and the corresponding Directives.
Over the last decade all relevant EU Directives have been
transposition of the Waste Framework Directive, in the Law
National Solid Waste Management Plan (2015) MSW source-
separation practices are promoted, especially for biowaste. The
main objectives of the plan are to increase the MSW recycling
MSW produced mainly due to the dietary habits in the country
during 2001 was around 4.5 million tons, while in 2011 the annual
production increased to 5.6 tons. In 2020 it is estimated to reach
5.8 million tons. Collection and transportation network of MSW
covers 100% of the country; however, the vast majority of MSW is
collected as a total fraction (mixed MSW). As of 2011, the recycling
rate is approximately 15% of the total MSW production, when at
the same time the amount of organic fraction is mainly recovered
is responsible for the design and implementation of recycling
of national alternative waste management systems and the
contains the packaging recycling which includes mixed packaging
recyclable materials (plastic, metal, glass packaging) collected
28 MRFs are currently in operations covering approximately
recovers only 4.14% of the MSW; whereas an additional 0.14%
of packaging recovery is achieved in 4 MBT plants (Ano Liosia,
10.72% refers to industrial recyclables that resemble to MSW (i.e.
printed paper, packaging). The recovery of MSW organic fraction
mechanical separation of mixed MSW. Organic material recovery
is also performed in the 4th
a bio-drying unit is installed and used for the production of Solid
Recovered Fuel (SRF), the majority of which is currently being
Waste management contracts in Greece – current situation:
performed by the cleaning services of the municipalities. In rare
occasions private companies are assigned to collect and transport
assigned the collection and transportation of solid waste as
well as their management to inter-municipal companies where
no particular policy is followed concerning the type and duration
of the contracts with the private companies/enterprises.
Preparatory private interviews were carried out with selected
stakeholders, in order to have a clear and complete perspective
on the contracts already signed for the treatment of MSW.
authority in Attica Region (ESDNA) has entered into a contract
Ithaca islands, have assigned the overall MSW management to
According to the statement of the interviewed persons
two or three years, in order to follow and implement the changes
account for about 40% as well as the recyclables (paper, plastic
the remaining 6% represents other materials.
Outlook Greece:
directly available and in many cases, cost-competitive compared
to conventional energy sources. In recent time, the economic
biomass fuels (e.g. olive husk, peach kernel and other types of
biomass fuel) as alternative to fossil fuels aiming to reduce the total
energy costs [41,42]. A recent census has been estimated that all
million tons of agricultural crop residues (cereal, maize, cotton,
Cross-Cultural Assessments and Stakeholder Consultancy
towards Resource Waste Reduction and Climate Change
Prevention
Copyright:
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Citation:
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Citation: Memaryan N, Ghaempanah Z, Seddigh R (2017) Spiritual interventions in Iran: A review article. SOJ Psychol 3(1): 1-5.
Spiritual interventions in Iran: A review article Copyright:
© 2017 Ghaempanah, et al.
is relatively low and related to the current partial use of RDF/
SRF produced in the existing MBT facilities for energy recovery
purposes in a limited number of industries. It should be stressed
units installed for the energy recovery of MSW biomass fuel.
National Solid Waste Management Plan states that thermal energy
impact methods and on the basis of the precautionary principle
processes they are considered as unsuitable for the treatment of
Table 1:
UK case study data Greek case study
data
Czech Republic case
study
Germany
Total Nr questionnaires sent
out
404 450 48
Nr sent to general public >100 200 0-available on web site
Response rate from public 91% 95% 15
Nr sent to LAs 4 145 48
Response rate from LAs 8.10% 75% 68% 1
Nr sent to specialised waste
companies
121 7 58 48
Response rate from SWCs 17.5% 57%
Informal interviews with
specialise waste companies
(face to face and telephone)
>8 >25 >20 1(with ASA – member
organisation of MBT operators)
1 (with ART regional authority)
MSW. The main reason is related to the fact that the production
and energy recovery of RDF / SRF at dedicated thermal plants
removes materials from other potential recycling routes.
Results
Due to the large amount of information about the
research carried out in larger country studies and stakeholder
reactions, as well as to the fact that some results have already
been published, this paper will concentrate only on the results
issued in the different country studies.
varying degrees of success as seen in the summary (Table 1)
below.
UK Country study Stakeholder consultancy
Issues encountered: The main issue highlighted during the
the new MARSS technology and what this offered in terms of
overcome with explanations from the researchers and referral of
participants to the project documentation at the MARSS website.
A lesser issue related to the need for such an approach within the
with more detailed knowledge of the waste systems within the
were followed up in some cases and there was an unwillingness
information (e.g. organisation name). This was overcome by
types of organisation (e.g. Waste Disposal Authority – WDA).
was designed to capture the viewpoints of two distinct groups of
responsibility for waste planning in their areas) and the loosely
termed ‘cross-cultural stakeholders’ (essentially comprising
those with specialist knowledge of the waste industry; including
trade associations; and groups impacted in their daily lives,
representative set of results, a number of personal interviews
were carried out with interested parties looking at the current
LACW management systems and the possible acceptability of
sent to over 260 stakeholders as well as a further 100 to members
of the general public from a representative sample covering
genders and age ranges. Deeper investigation within the studied
countries showed that the relevant stakeholder groups consulted
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Table 2:
Statement Strongly agree Agree Neither agree
nor disagree
Disagree Strongly
Disagree
Sorting waste and recycling make me feel a better
person
16.28%
I care what my neighbours think about me and how I
deal with my rubbish.
I would be proud of my community if we all dealt
with rubbish in a more environmental way.
6.98% 18.60% 18.60%
I want to give my children and good example so I try
to recycle as best as possible.
for my recycling activities.
local authorities responsible for waste management including the
supporting local waste management companies that worked with
different level of development between the chosen study countries,
it was not possible to assume who or which organisations should
the different countries was needed to identify these groups. The
only common group of respondents grouped as the “general
designed to capture the viewpoints of two distinct groups of
responsibility for waste planning in their areas) and the loosely
termed ‘cross-cultural stakeholders’ (essentially comprising
those with specialist knowledge of the waste industry; including
trade associations; and groups impacted in their daily lives, such
as the general public).
Local support was therefore invaluable in order to get
accurate information about who should be consulted and how.
and cement producers, power station operators, environmental
protections associations, universities, SMEs and many others.
Local Authorities: Stakeholders from Local Authorities were
seen as a key group for this study as it is at this level that
infrastructure provision is often initiated, typically as LA run
operations or in partnership with private contractors. There was
a high level of reticence amongst this group to provide feedback
in a manner that could identify themselves or the organisations
forwarded sent to this stakeholder group with 15 completed
forms returned. To overcome these inhibiting factors a number
of informal interviews were conducted which proved useful
in establishing the level of interest, which LAs may have in the
MARSS approach to capturing materials from the residual waste
stream.
Trade association members and representatives of waste
companies: There are a number of directly and indirectly
relevant trade associations for waste management and more
general sustainability related issues (e.g. Resource Association
management sector, like much of mainland Europe is dominated
by a small number of large operators (e.g. Suez and FCC) but with
a substantial number of smaller operators due to a historic legacy
of small-scale approaches to waste centred on towns and areas of
cities. A representative sample of expert stakeholders was sent
associations or industry bodies with the remainder from private
companies) received either completed or partially completed,
representing a 17.5% response rate.
General public: Waste management is an activity with which all
waste for collection on a weekly basis (as well as through more
sophisticated alternate weekly collection schemes for recyclate
and residual fractions) and through campaigns to raise awareness
of recycling and other aspects of the waste hierarchy. In order
to gain understanding of the public’s view of a new technology
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UK Questionnaire and interview findings
Local Authority results – Part 1: As the one of the key stakeholder
groups in the procurement and commissioning process for MBT
technologies, it was telling that all respondents from LA’s felt the
is not surprising as there has been a strategic commitment to AD
since the Waste Review which has been emphasised within the
National Waste Management Plan for England as well as being
highlighted as a central feature within the Zero Waste approaches
There was an overwhelmingly negative response
when respondents were asked about future investment in
infrastructure, with MBT being seen as the least likely investment
discussions. Indeed, this reluctance to consider MBT (and thus
in responses when asked if their LA was likely to consider
producing a biomass fuel, with a number of respondents
indicating they already sent RDF to energy form waste (EfW)
the small number of LA’s responding this cannot be taken as
prevalent, with a number of such facilities coming through the
planning pipeline currently.
A range of LA types were asked to respond to the
(Waste Collection Authorities) and UAs (Unitary Authorities).
which on follow-up was attributed to old data sets (with no new
studies available); time of year data was collected (impacted by
seasonality); and estimations used in the absence of up-to-date
Figure 3.1.1: Percentage (%) of organic material present in LACW by
weight for Local Authorities
Figure 3.1.2: Relevance of options to organisation for strategic deci-
sion-making
give an indication of the impact on their decision-making that
were asked to classify these considerations on a scale relating
to the seriousness of the impact on decision-making (e.g. very
any consideration within the ‘very serious’ category.
Only two options were classed as primarily of serious
personnel, plant, transport and infrastructure) there was
very little concern with many indicating these issues were not
relevant to their organisation. Planning for waste management
was another area of very low concerns overall, but regulation was
tipping and operational procedures at some sites as well as the
reported in the relevant press [45].
Table 2.1: Stakeholder evaluations of statements – psychological
Statement Strongly
agree
Sorting waste and recycling make me feel a
better person
24%
I care what my neighbors think about me and
how I deal with my rubbish
5%
I would be proud of my community if we all deal with
rubbish in a more environmental way
I want to give my children and good example
so I try to recycle as best as possible
24%
back) for my recycling activities
11%
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Cross-cultural stakeholders and general public results
– Part 2
A larger sample of stakeholders was garnered
for cross-cultural stakeholders, likely as a result of lower concern
marginally representative of gender (male 55.8% and female
44.2%) with a diverse range of age groups represented (Figure
Figure 3.1.3: Age ranges of respondents
Respondents had an above average level of educational
attainment, with 98% having attended higher education as a
minimum. Of this total, 40% had attained post-graduate level
management sector.
Stakeholders, in general, were aware of
what happened to their wastes once collected from their homes. In
of what their local waste system did with their household wastes
Figure 3.1.4: Stakeholder view on costs of waste management to
household
Tellingly, more than 50% of respondents did not know
what happened once collected and a small fraction thought there
was no charge for these services. Notwithstanding, those who
indicated an awareness of the cost range for their waste services
were able to give a fairly accurate assessment (e.g. a total of
Euro per annum). Further, almost all stakeholders indicated they
did not pay by weight within their local areas, nor did they think
they paid too much for these services.
When asked to give an indication of whom stakeholders
would most or least trust to provide guidance on waste
seen as reliable sources of information and thus most trusted to
provide information. When asked if they would be prepared to
pay more for their waste services there was a surprising majority
indicating they would (>58%), providing there was evidence of
Figure 3.1.5: Stakeholders choice whom they would MOST trust for
waste management advice
Figure 3.1.6: Stakeholders choice whom they would LEAST trust for
waste management advice
A further surprising result was found when asked about
proximity to waste facilities, with more than 50% of stakeholders
(particularly EfW which can take up to 5 years to move from
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A further surprising result was found when asked about
proximity to waste facilities, with more than 50% of stakeholders
(particularly EfW which can take up to 5 years to move from
stakeholders at the household level, a very large proportion
Figure 3.1.7: Stakeholder evaluation of living in proximity to waste fa-
cilities
Figure 3.1.8: Stakeholder responses for time spent sorting waste ma-
terials each week
When giving an indication of the importance of aspects
responses were scored on a range of 1-10 (with 10 being the most
important). These scores were averaged to give an indication
reduce the subjectivity of individual responses. The ‘cheapest
option’ was reported as the most important consideration with
‘environmental protection’ and being the ‘most convenient
option’ also scoring highly. In contrast, stakeholders gave least
importance to ‘renewable EfW’ and ‘meeting targets’.
Stakeholder opinions: The level of satisfaction with local waste
management services was high among 42% of stakeholders
with only 28% indicating any dissatisfaction with their service
perceptions of problems associated with waste in general and at
Figure 3.1.9: Most important aspects of waste management in locality
to stakeholders
Figure 3.1.10: Stakeholder perceptions of waste problems at different
scales
Results were most detailed at the local scale with
LA decisions seen as contributing most at this scale with
Regionally, technologies were seen as the biggest issue for waste
management, whereas politicians were seen as having the largest
contribution to waste problems at the national scale. In general,
waste management issues were seen as being compounded by
Figure 3.1.11: Stakeholder evaluation of statements to solve the waste
problem
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In contrast, interventions from the European scale and a
greater role for local authorities met with the most disagreement
(90% and 70% respectively), with increased incineration of
consideration around incineration was further supported when
stakeholders were asked to indicate the highest risk to human
stakeholders assigning highest and high levels of risk to human
health.
about what the neigbours think (5%), whereas the British
studies have shown that there are similar concerns between local
authority decision makers regarding MSW; however show vastly
different psychological interests and concerns within the general
public between the different country studies. This calls for more
detailed research work into the underlying factors resulting in
these remarkable differences obtained. In general stakeholders
were positive about the credentials of a boosted recycling process
to recover energy and materials used in this study, but had more
pressing concerns over issues with waste at the local scale, which
other policy priorities to deliver on waste hierarchy commitments
towards a circular business model, means realistically that the
currently.
given for different geographic scales.
When asked to evaluate statements proposing solutions
to waste problems, changing behaviour and paying in proportion
to the amount of waste generated had the strongest levels of
Figure 3.1.12: Stakeholder assessment of technology risk to human
health
Greece country study and stakeholder consultancy
During the research and mainly during the interviews
with the stakeholders, several issues were raised but were
effectively managed. The most important issue that had to
be confronted was due to the structure of the stakeholders’
made the stakeholders reluctant, and cautious about making any
statements, and this resulted in a number of non-representative
the governmental support and management problems within
their organization). The majority of the stakeholders were
very reluctant to answer due to the possibility of the results’
publication and the probability of exposing their organization’s
weaknesses. This problem was overcome by informing them that
all results and reports would be anonymous and researchers
issue that had to be handled during the interviews was the
fact that much more time than expected had to be spent in the
interviews in order to achieve more focused answers to assess
the real level of acceptability for an innovative technology such
as MARSS. Moreover, several stakeholders were not willing to
themselves responsible or informed enough to represent the
opinion of their organization.
Categories of stakeholders:
representative results for this report, a large number of personal
interviews and contacts were held with interested parties related
to the current MSW management systems and the possible
acceptability of a boosted recycling process for biomass fuels in
that could provide coherent information from competent entities
involved with the national MSW management system.
Furthermore, stakeholders that were selected that could
exploitation. The total number of the fully completed stakeholder
private follow-up interviews and telephone meetings conducted,
which were more focused and more dedicated to the possible
end-users of such a technology. The stakeholders that were
chosen for the interviews were representatives from the public
permanent staff was selected to be interviewed, coming from
public administration bodies and private companies/enterprises
that are related to MSW management from Attica, Crete (Chania
The aim of the present research was to explore and analyze
thoroughly the stakeholders’ acceptability and to understand the
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market potential of using the MARSS technology application in
Table 3: Main Stakeholders consulted (from the public sector)
Region Stakeholder
Crete
Heraklion United Association of Solid Waste Management in Crete
(http://esdak.gr/ )
Chania Inter-municipal Enterprise of Solid Waste Management
(http://dedisa.gr/ )
Attica Attica Region Solid Waste Management Αssociation
(http://www.edsna.gr/ )
Kefallinia Inter-municipal Enterprise of Cleaning and
Private stakeholders consulted included:
treatment plants, wastewater treatment plants, responsible for
of treatment plants, management of solid MSW, consulting.
wastewater treatment plant of Psitaleia island, the biggest plant
that processes 1st generation biomass fuels, leader in the market.
Greek Questionnaire and interview findings
As mentioned above, the selected stakeholders were
representatives from public and private municipal solid waste
of them are permanent employees in MSW management bodies,
such as waste management associations, municipalities etc.
Is the
MSW treated in any way? If yes, then how? If no, then what
general procedures that are followed for the MSW management,
management practices among regions due to different needs
answered that recycling is mainly limited to the source-separation
and recovery of packaging waste through the established
mechanical sorting is taking place for delivering materials to
the corresponding market. The residual MSW from MRF units is
of Attica’s mixed MSW is transported to the MBT facility for the
recovery of ferrous metals, aluminum, CLO and SRF.
is very limited or even absent. Interviewees from the region
separation practices are limited to the application of the “blue
Only recycling of the packaging materials in big shopping centers
bio-drying facility for partial recovery of recyclable materials
[40]. The remaining dried material (SRF) is mainly disposed in
(CLO) is produced in the MBT facility that processes the organic
fraction of mixed MSW (not source separated). The operators
characteristics and currently it is marketed and used as soil
collection of biowaste (kitchen and garden waste), the prevailing
opinion was that “No relevant management scheme has been
established yet”, due to the fact that nothing similar has ever been
applied in recent years (only in a small scale or pilot projects e.g.
composting). The only biowaste source separation scheme that
is in place is related to green waste in public areas of various
MBT facilities in Ano Liosia (Attica Region) and Chania (Region of
Crete). At these MBT facilities collected green waste is shredded
and used as bulking agent at the composting process of mixed
organic fraction of MSW.
“Is there any interest in investing
in a technology for further processing MSW, aiming at increasing
the recycling outputs?” it was concluded that indeed there is a
also evident by the updated National Solid Waste Management
Plan that promotes the decentralized management of MSW and
The different groups of stakeholders who responded
Many of the responders mentioned that the
governmental lack of support and the problem of poor waste
management are not related. Thus there is a belief that the
most important factor for a sustainable waste management is
the willingness of the authorities to follow the governments’
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“How
would you describe the state support and the bodies responsible
for the creation of MBT plants in your area?” the majority of the
respondents (52%) answered that the government support on
or that the governmental actions do not rise up to the expectations
Figure 3.2.1:
Figure 3.2.2: State support and the bodies responsible for the creation
of MBT plants
Figure 3.2.3 Main problems in your area of activity
waste, lack of enforcement measures and penalties and a non
services.
Cross-cultural stakeholders and general public results
– Part 2
of the general public’s awareness on environmental issues and
the probability of acceptance of a technology like MARSS in
from all age groups and academic levels were selected. The
same time face-to-face interviews were also performed in the
premises of the Technical University of Athens, municipalities
and private companies. The sample included people working in
municipalities, employees of public sector and private companies,
environmental and mainly on waste management issues. More
“Do you know how your
municipal waste are processed after they are leaving households?”
the majority of the responders (57%) answered that they are
aware of the procedure. At that point it should be emphasized that
only a few of the responders really knew exactly what the MSW
treatment procedure was, although most of the correspondents
thought that they actually were aware of the whole chain of
In more detail, 44% of the general public who responded to the
believe that the MSW goes to MBT plant and afterwards follows
responders believe that recycling, incineration with recycling and
As far as the amount of waste management fees is
concerned (high or low), the majority of the responders (59%)
do not know what they pay for their waste. Only a small number
not the exact ones. Even though citizens are obliged to pay large
amounts for waste management through municipal fees for a
non-effective municipal waste management system, they don’t
actually know how much and to whom they pay these amounts.
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The general public’s level of acceptability on new waste
management technologies (i.e. MARSS technology) is very high
while 47% would support it under certain conditions. The
conditions that were mentioned under which the new technology
A minority of 8% of the responders would be opposed
on any new technology implemented in MSW management.
demand environmental friendly interventions, when it comes to
Figure 3.2.4: Do you know what Municipal waste management meth-
ods are applied, after collection?
Figure 3.2.5: Conditions for the acceptance of a new technology on
MSW management
Industries, a targeted interview was conducted with Thermossol
Company S.A. (experts on biomass fuel market and constructors of
industrial boilers that consume biomass). It was mentioned that
biomass fuels market in our country is a market directly related
a misconception from their side that the uses of biomass fuels
from treated MSW imply an environmental hazard and therefore
can attract social opposition, complaints and even lawsuits.
Industries in this case would be obliged to use appropriate, anti-
Considering the above, the demand of MSW biomass
fuel is limited to the rather low exploitation of the RDF/SRF that
is produced by the existing MBT plants, whereas the end-users of
the material are predominantly the cement industries.
related to the market development of renewable energy based on
interviews that they did not have the resources and/or money to
make any improvements in local waste management, whatever
economic and social crisis within the country.
compounded by a complete absence of thermal treatment
facilities for the energy recovery of MSW biomass fuel. The new
waste management government policy framework does not
favor the development of thermal treatment plants using MSW
biomass fuel.
MSW biomass that is still vague compared to alternative biomass
feedstock (i.e. agricultural biomass) and the industrial demand
for MSW biomass fuel is limited.
support the marketability of waste derived fuels and provide
information on the level of the biogenic fraction of the feedstock
waste derived biomass fuels.)
is mainly attributed to lack of public awareness and information
programmes.
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awareness on environmental issues and would easily accept a new
other hand, stakeholders and the private enterprises would be
more cautious, due to the lack of governmental guidelines and
accept innovative technologies with proper guidelines. Relevant
waste derived products could have a chance to be successfully
the existing legislative provisions and market demands. The use
the last years due to the economic recession however the use
of MSW biomass fuels cannot be easily incorporated primarily
use of biomass fuels from treated MSW imply an environmental
hazard which attracts social opposition, complaints or even
lawsuits. It seems that a boosted biomass recycling technology
has the capacity to receive about 480,000 tons/year biomass
fuel, whereas long term companies voluntary agreements (as
foreseen by the Ministry of Energy) is expected to aid towards
in order to discover their willingness in using this technology and
to increase the added value of their products. Finally the citizens
are open to all new MSW management technologies which are
life.
Discussion
Stakeholder consultancy and engagement with
stakeholder groups when any new technology is being introduced
is not new, but the understanding about the value and importance
to participate actively in that consultancy, and maintained
throughout the decision making process, is beginning to be
becoming adopted as part of the active consultation processes
before any major policy decisions are formulated or taken. Table
4 below summarized the main differences and similarities found
in the two cross-cultural case studies.
Table 4: Main differences and similarities between the two case studies
Differences
UK case study GR case study
There was on overwhelming negative response from LAs on future
investment in infrastructure, with MBT being seen as the least likely
investment option.
The majority (91%) of the stakeholders who responded to the
in investing in a technology for
further processing MSW, aiming at increasing the recycling outputs.
The majority of the general public spends less than a few minutes to
sort their waste, which explains the low recycling rates.
would trust academics the most to provide information about new waste
technologies
The majority would have more trust in information from the internet.
high reaching 42% and only 28% indicating any dissatisfaction
services was low, reaching 24,5% with only the 6.5% of public to be
The current trend is for EfW and AD and not MBT as method to reduce
an option
waste (2% strongly agree)
them (5%)
Similarities
1.General:
i.Residual waste remains an issue for many EU Member State, regardless their geographical and socio-economical characteristics.
ii.In both countries MBT plants are used as a pre-treatment practice. In general stakeholders were positive about the credentials of a boosted recycling
process to recover energy and materials used in this study.
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2.Questionnaires:
i.In both countries the general public has a high level of awareness on environmental issues and a low level of trust in politicians. Both case studies
responders found that a change in behaviour of consumers was the key to increased levels of recycling and not more EU legislation. Incineration,
Both studies showed a strong mistrust of decisions and information given out by Local authorities and politicians.
These different cross-case studies showed that
stakeholder opinions, which can be understood only with an
appropriate background analysis of the local situation as well
as direct consultation via interviews with these different groups
of stakeholders. One main conclusion seems to be that cross-
cultural assessments and stakeholder consultancy ARE the ways
The country studies have shown that national differences are
very strong, and that there are different paths towards a green
economy and protection of the environment in spite of common
goals set by EU legislation. The urge to protect the environment
was endorsed in the cross-cultural studies where it was a common
and many indicated a willingness to pay even more for waste
management if innovations would favour the environment and
family health. Inclusion of stakeholders, who may be for or
against the said innovation or proposed decision, can not only
also in turn educate their stakeholders about the different pros
and cons of the proposed action, leading to what can be seen
as an enhanced positive interest in local and regional affairs.
This is further endorsed by the post-survey strong interest was
shown by the country experts and consulted decision makers in
continuing the collaboration.
The authors are aware that a cross cultural study of this
kind can be criticized for many methodological and analytical
weaknesses; however it is only a start and should continue
as a work in progress. There is no doubt that simply carrying
out this consultancy work has opened up discussions between
the country experts and the stakeholder groups consulted,
and has set in place an informal communication network that
is positive in itself. We also found that the way stakeholders
can or should be involved in a stakeholder consultancy and
participatory process is a very complex issue. By carrying out
this analysis before implementing a policy or programme, policy
makers and managers can detect and act to prevent potential
misunderstandings and/or opposition to the implementation of
the policy or programme. A policy or programme will more likely
succeed if a stakeholder analysis, along with other key tools, is
The high level of mistrust shown by the stakeholders
consulted in giving out any opinions or data was common to all
studies. Data protection was a consistent issue to be dealt with
sensitivity throughout the different country studies. The issue
of trust in fact was consistent throughout the studies at different
we need to go further in understanding who the respondents
are and the relation of their role and person to the sometimes
over-enthusiastic responses in the adoption of the proposed new
technology being able to solve all waste management problems in
the other country studies. A further step would be to initiate open
reach consensus on what the goals should be and whose interests
should be represented.
One major challenge in our research work was how to
present the stakeholders with un-based information enabling
them to make decisions with a certain level of expertise and how
to involve them in the decision making process. The message
level and extent of information to be given out. No new technical
development or process can realistically take place without some
element of entrepreneurship together with private monitory
on the shoulders of the decision-makers in the public domain
about how to assess the introduction and impacts of agreeing to
a new venture or technology in their community. For this reason
the authors call for a change in perspective in that involving
stakeholders in these complex decisions can not only speed up
these introductions and prevent a-priori opposition within the
stakeholder groups, but can lead to lasting coalitions between
civil society and public decision makers.
One aim of the research was to get a better understanding
of acceptance levels of the introduction of the new technology
under study, and to see what the immediate barriers were to
possible acceptance by stakeholder groups. All countries studied
showed strong interest from the general public in using recycled
biomass for renewable energy as part of a move away from
these results do not mean that those other less-well developed
consider introducing standard technologies – it depends on the
national and local situation. Stakeholder consultancy work has
shown that it is important to have direct contact with stakeholders
Cross-Cultural Assessments and Stakeholder Consultancy
towards Resource Waste Reduction and Climate Change
Prevention
Copyright:
© 2017 Hornsby.C, et.al.
Citation:
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Citation: Memaryan N, Ghaempanah Z, Seddigh R (2017) Spiritual interventions in Iran: A review article. SOJ Psychol 3(1): 1-5.
Spiritual interventions in Iran: A review article Copyright:
© 2017 Ghaempanah, et al.
the local communities to maintain interest and provide input
back into communities. Especially with regard to those countries
with a low level of development in treatment of solid municipal
waste, introduction of new technologies depend on having a
certain level of infrastructures, investment funds and markets for
recyclables as well as an open market for energy production from
biomass derived fuels.
Our results clearly show that there are no optimum
solutions and that each of the countries studied presented a
very different historical development, national preferences and
capacities (or government support schemes) for investment in
obtained in the cross cultural studies have highlighted the
differences between the countries under study, in spite of common
EU legislation, has shown up stark differences in readiness to
take up new technologies, and certainly brought other important
issues to light.
Conclusions
The country studies have shown that it is simply not
easy to transpose one successfully demonstrated technology
from one country to another. The acceptability and chances for
successful implementation based on new technologies rely on a
multiplicity of complex factors such as political climate, level of
infrastructures, investment opportunities, including the state of
play in the waste management systems already in place.
Acceptance and uptake of a new waste treatment
are more concerned about environmental protection.
in both case studies. In the case of the technology under study,
additional limitations came from the strict license restrictions in
household waste. In fact, some of the countries do not allow or
authorize a waste derived biomass fuel to be used or accredited
for use as a biomass feedstock for the production of renewable
energy; whereas others do allow this. For those countries that
decide to go down the route using RRBF as a renewable fuel,
there is a need for standardization and norms for biomass fuels
on a pan-European level.
indicate that there is a high level or even an over-enthusiasm
about the innovative technology under study being able to solve
all the problems of their national/local MSW waste management.
There was a surprising high level of a willingness to pay more
the environment. There were also marked differences in socio-
was present in all the country studies. In addition, environmental
protection, cheapest option and convenience were seen as being
important local considerations which could be supported by
changes in behaviour and introducing pay as you throw policies.
in new technologies based on MBT plants was a problem in all
forecasted that no more MBT plants will be built due to the small
backdrop that MBT technology itself is on the increase in Europe
as a whole as it does provide a robust sorting technology for
number of MBT plants and there are none operating in the Czech
in the solutions that local authorities chose to deal with their
waste.
An interest was shown by the local experts and consulted
stakeholders in the transfer of Best Available Practices (BAPs)
by the countries under study, and to extend the collaboration
direst consultation in the framework of Participatory Appraisal
longer-term international collaboration, even though the end
national decisions may differ radically from one EU country to
the next. In conclusion, it seems that there will always have to
be a compromise decision that has to be taken, as a result of a
constant consultation process and cross-cultural assessments
including all stakeholder groups if EU targets are to be met and
good governance prevails.
Acknowledgement
The authors would like to thank all the country experts
and stakeholders consulted for their contributions to the cross-
cultural stakeholder consultancy, as well as the MARSS partners
for their input and support. The authors gratefully acknowledge
EE-2014-2-RIA, topic EE-12-2014, Socio-economic research on
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Citation: Memaryan N, Ghaempanah Z, Seddigh R (2017) Spiritual interventions in Iran: A review article. SOJ Psychol 3(1): 1-5.
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