The Environmental Effectiveness of Solid Waste Management A Case Study of Oslo, Norway CHOI, HYE JUNG Master thesis in Culture, Environment and Sustainability Centre for Development and Environment UNIVERSITY OF OSLO Spring, 2016 © CHOI, HYE JUNG 2016 The Environmental Effectiveness of Solid Waste Management: A Case Study of Oslo, Norway http://www.duo.uio.no/ Print: Reprosentralen, University of Oslo II Abstract The aim of this research is to understand the environmental effectiveness of the solid waste management in Oslo (with the exception of construction and demolition waste). This thesis does so by looking into the concept of environmental effectiveness and its four determinants (regulatory structure, time, economic structure, and science) as defined by Kütting (2000a, 2000b, 2001a, 2001b, 2009). It also employs the analysis of governance networks to understand the regulatory structure, waste governance, of waste management. Within these analytical frameworks, this research gathered data from 21 interviews, and reviewed literature published by the organizations that the informants worked for. Although the waste governance in waste management performs well thanks to cooperation between related actors in the network, the environmental effectiveness of waste management is limited. First, it is revealed that, due to the Pollution Control Act, there is no governing agency to control industrial waste which makes up a significant amount of the total waste generated in Oslo, Norway. The second discovery is that the current solid waste management depends greatly on energy recovery and recycling, which are two feasible methods in the given context, although reuse and waste prevention are regarded as more desirable methods in preventing negative impacts to the environment from an environmental perspective. This point indicates that the waste management is more concerned with institutional feasibility rather than environmental necessity. The relationships between the waste management and three of the determinants (time, economic structure, and science) display the same results. It is important to note that the approach to these determinants are dealing more so with how we treat waste, rather than how we remove the origin of the problem. Thus, this research concludes that, when it comes to environmental effectiveness, it is obvious that the current waste management focuses on what they can do given the context, instead of revolutionizing this context to improve waste management, making more desirable methods, like reuse and waste prevention, feasible. III Acknowledgements It was much more challenging and difficult to complete this master thesis than I had expected. I thought that I could manage and cope with anything that happened along the way. But I was not. I got frustrated a lot, not only by this research but also by living abroad. There were multiple occasions where I wanted to give up, but thanks to the help and encouragement I got from many people, I managed to complete this work. First of all, I want to sincerely thank my supervisor, Professor Harold Wilhite, for his generous consideration and valuable feedback. Without his patience and understanding, I could not have finished this research. His positive and encouraging feedback also helped motivate me to work more on this research. I would like to thank my 21 informants, who were willing to spend their time and share their opinions with me, despite their busy schedule. The most difficult part of conducting this research was contacting interviewees. Although I got frustrated by not receiving replies and lost contact with some of those I contacted, I was able to get back on the right track thanks my informants. I am indeed very grateful for their kindness. My family, friends, and student advisors, Gudrun and Anne-Line at SUM, those who are worried about me and support me all the time, are one of the main reasons I could not give up on this thesis, which made me continue and work harder. I would also like to thank Garbrielle for correcting the language of this thesis, and Faraz for always supporting me and cheering me up with his super positive mind. IV Table of contents 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Rationale ............................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Case study site: Oslo, Norway ........................................................................... 4 1.3 Structure of thesis ............................................................................................... 8 2 Theoretical framework ............................................................................................ 10 2.1 Rationale for choice of frameworks ................................................................. 10 2.1.1 Environmental effectiveness ..................................................................... 10 2.1.2 Governance networks ............................................................................... 12 2.2 Environmental effectiveness ............................................................................ 13 2.2.1 What is ‘effectiveness’? ............................................................................ 13 2.2.2 Environmental effectiveness ..................................................................... 14 2.2.3 Four determinants of environmental effectiveness ................................... 15 2.3 Governance networks ....................................................................................... 20 2.3.1 From government to governance networks .............................................. 20 2.3.2 Governance networks ............................................................................... 21 2.4 Limitation ......................................................................................................... 25 3 Methodology ........................................................................................................... 27 3.1 Case study research .......................................................................................... 27 3.2 Choice of method ............................................................................................. 28 3.2.1 Interview ................................................................................................... 28 3.2.2 Literature review ....................................................................................... 33 3.3 Methodological challenges ............................................................................... 34 3.4 Ethical consideration ........................................................................................ 35 4 Waste ...................................................................................................................... 37 4.1 Waste: past and present .................................................................................... 37 4.1.1 Waste, as a part of nature .......................................................................... 37 4.1.2 Waste, becoming problematic ................................................................... 38 4.2 Analyzing waste management .......................................................................... 43 4.2.1 Waste classification .................................................................................. 43 4.2.2 Waste management ................................................................................... 44 5 Mapping waste management in Oslo ...................................................................... 49 V 5.1 The Norwegian Government: A policy taker or maker? .................................. 49 5.2 Municipality, as a granted ruler ........................................................................ 54 5.3 Diverse non-governmental actors ..................................................................... 60 6 Findings ................................................................................................................... 63 6.1 Waste governance as a regulatory structure ..................................................... 63 6.1.1 Policy making process ............................................................................... 63 6.1.2 Implementing waste policy ....................................................................... 65 6.1.3 Necessity of network and governance networks ....................................... 68 6.1.4 Instruments of waste governance .............................................................. 72 6.1.5 Limitations of the present waste governance ............................................ 75 6.2 Time .................................................................................................................. 85 6.2.1 Irreversible time and the environment ...................................................... 85 6.2.2 Getting into the rhythm ............................................................................. 88 6.3 Economic structure ........................................................................................... 95 6.3.1 Easy come, easy go ................................................................................... 95 6.3.2 Money matters ........................................................................................... 97 6.4 Science ............................................................................................................ 102