Authors: Georgios Papadopoulos, Rafaela Koliou, Sotiris Gayialis, Evripidis Kechagias

Title: Managing the Waste Problem through an Innovative Recycling Model

Abstract

The current situation in Greece, regarding the issue of recycling, is quite disappointing. According to statistics, waste recycling rates reach only 20%, which means that the target set in the National Waste Management Plan for the years 2015-2020 was greatly underachieved. These numbers rank our country among the worst EU ones in terms of efficiency.

Recycling is an important part of the circular economy and requires the cooperation of both the companies and consumers. This research focuses on the latter, as there is a need to understand the factors that affect recycling behavior and investigate how to deal with them.

Consciousness-raising and educating citizens is a crucial factor in these efforts. People need to focus on the impact that their actions and behavior have on society. The lack of knowledge about the right way to recycle packaging is one reason that prevents them from incorporating it into their daily lives. It has also been demonstrated that the current waste management policies raise doubts among consumers. There are two main factors. First of all, there is no system for separating collection and multi-stream recycling, with special bins for each stream. Secondly, the lack of trust in government and municipal services, which is accompanied by suspicions that the contents of the blue bins end up in landfills along with the rest of the waste. Citizens will become more willing to recycle if the process becomes easier, clearer, requiring less time, and having easy access to bins. Additionally, the existence of an incentive can encourage them to perform proper recycling.

To address these problems, this research presents the concept of an Innovative Recycling Model for post-purchase recycling. This Model will solve the problems of consumers and offer them incentives, easy information about recyclable materials, trust in the authorities, easy access to bins, and, above all, awareness and critical mind to choose and recognize the products from companies that have integrated "Social Responsibility" in their Business Model.

The mobilization and active participation of the consumers can be done easily through the supermarkets, part of their daily life, and the technology that through a smartphone can digitize the products. This model is also supported by the appropriate information system. Specifically, data for the material packaging of each product will be recorded by the suppliers. This information will be incorporated in the barcode of products and connected to a newly configured barcode, printed on the receipt. The the consumer, by scanning the receipt’s barcode, will receive on his screen information for the recycling of packaging materials of the products he bought. The recyclable packages that are divided by category will be collected in separate "smart waste bins", the capabilities of which will be further explored. In the end, instructions will be given for the location of the nearest bin for each recyclable material. Finally, customers will be motivated to follow this process through some form of "reward" from the cooperative supermarket.