Stakeholders¤

We will go through the main stakeholders from you put waste in the bin to the end product (recycled material or energy). We try to give the most general opinion, how they impact the industry and where their interests/incentives lie.

This list has been constructed after visiting and talking to most stakeholders. I may be faulty and not representative for the whole industry, but it is a good starting point for us.

Here is an overview of the general stakeholders:

Citizens¤

Incentive: Not always clear. Generally you pay more, the more waste you produce, and usually also more if the waste is mixed. This is however sometimes split between multiple households. The pay increase in not sorting is minor, although you will sometimes get notifications/warnings from the municipality if you don't sort enough, which could push you to sort more. Less sorting in homes = less effort from citizens, and this is most likely a large driver.

Impact: Highly impact the industry. If everyone wanted to and did sort correctly, the problem would be solved. The problems stem from the fact that sorting is required, but not everyone does it to perfection.

General Opinion: Most people seem frustrated with sorting waste at home. The overall opinion is mixed, but the majority do it either because they believe it is necessary or because it is required. There are still issues residual waste having too much non-sorted waste1.

Companies¤

Incentive: Sort as little as possible, while not getting fines or warnings. Want to minimize costs through less required employee sorting, less space, less logistical considerations. Some companies have sorting as a direct use in their marketing. For them the incentive is to sort as much as possible to use as a selling point.

Impact: High impact. Same as citizens.

General Opinion: Unsure.

Waste Pickup (for citizens) (municipalities)¤

Incentive: Wrongly sorted waste is expensive for municipalities and works against their goals. Incentivized to have citizens sort as much as possible. (municipalities) Wrongly sorted waste is expensive and for municipalities. and works against their goals. Incentiviczed to have high sorting irates.citizens sort as much as possible .

Impact: Close to none. Follows the rest of the industry.

General Opinion: Citizens do not sort good enough.

Waste Pickup (for companies)¤

Incentive: Make as much money as possible transporting waste from source to recycling facility. Many players, so being able to handle waste as cheaply as possible is a large driver. Puts pressure on sorting facilities to push price down.

Impact: Medium. They partly design how the waste is sorted at companies by providing bins and guidelines. This impacts how the sorting facilities handle the incoming waste.

General Opinion: Sorting facilities are not good enough to handle mixed waste and large amounts of data is lost.

Waste Sorting Facilities for sorted waste¤

Incentive: Do as little effort as possible to ensure fraction is pure enough for recycling and sell that for a profit.

Impact: Medium. They are the bottleneck for the industry. Extremely high funding required for new sorting machines, which is a large barrier. Most still use manual sorting to do some post-sorting.

General Opinion: Citizens/Companies do not sort good enough.

Waste Sorting Facilities for mixed waste¤

Incentive: Sort steel and tree to sell for a profit (and other minor fractions, if a profit can be made). Besides that sort as little as possible without getting fines.

Impact: High. They are the bottleneck for the industry. Extremely high funding required for new sorting machines, which is a large barrier. Most still use manual sorting to do all post-sorting.

General Opinion: Citizens/Companies do not sort good enough. Machines are too expensive to buy and implement.

Recycling companies¤

Incentive: Pay little for as high purity as possible and use that to create new products. Great balance between cost of higher purity and potential damage to machines from lower purity.

Impact: High. Generally very good at sorting. Glass, paper, cardboard and metal are recycled well. Plastic is problematic, but large facilities are deployed to solve this issue.

General Opinion: Citizens/Companies do not sort good enough, but we can handle it. Sorting facilities don't post-sort good enough, but we can handle it.

Waste-to-Energy Plants¤

Incentive: Follow municipality goals for as little money as possible as these plants are in competition with other plants.

Impact: Low. Follows government goals and rules. Changes has to be made before these plants (or when at the latest when waste is delivered here).

General Opinion: Technology is not mature enough to handle mixed waste. Citizens and companies should sort better, so less waste is burned.

Municipalities¤

Incentive: Get to government goals for as little money as possible. Push citizens and companies to sort more as this is the cheapest approach.

Impact: Medium. Follows government goals and rules, but applies it's own too.