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Solid Waste Recycling Behavior of Industrial‐Commercial ‐Institutional Establishments
Author(s) -
MACLAREN VIRGINIA W.,
YU CHANGCHING
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
growth and change
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.657
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1468-2257
pISSN - 0017-4815
DOI - 10.1111/1468-2257.00051
Subject(s) - paperboard , metropolitan area , municipal solid waste , sample (material) , logistic regression , business , variables , regression analysis , waste management , engineering , mathematics , statistics , geography , chemistry , archaeology , chromatography
This paper develops a model of the relationship between the solid waste recycling activities of industrial‐commercial‐institutional (ICI) firms and two sets of explanatory variables: characteristics of the firm and characteristics of the waste materials. The model is tested for six types of waste material (paper, paperboard, plastic, glass, wood, and metal) using logistic regression analysis and drawing on waste quantity and composition data collected from a sample of over 400 ICI firms in metropolitan Toronto. The percentage of firms recycling materials ranged from a high of 46 percent for paperboard to a low of 8 percent for plastics. In all of the models tested, quantity of waste material produced was found to be a significant explanatory variable in determining whether a firm will recycle that material. Other variables which were found to be significant in explaining recycling of some, but not all, material types were floor space of the firm, and type of economic activity. Despite theoretical support for its inclusion, employment was not found to be significant in any of the models.