To sort, or not to sort, that is the question : Factors influencing the sorting of food waste among homeowners in the City of Lidingö

Abstract: Swedish people today are generally interested in environmental issues. One can assume that this would affect the way people act in their daily lives. However, research has shown that when it comes to attitudes and behavior, there is what has been described as “a gap”. Concern for the environment does not automatically mean that people act in an environmentally friendly way. The fact is that there are many barriers that prevent a so-called pro environmental behavior. This study deals with some of the factors that can influence a specific behavior, namely the sorting of food waste in the City of Lidingö – a municipality in Sweden that works to increase the number of subscribers of food waste collection. The waste is a valuable substrate when producing biogas, which is considered a renewable fuel. By replacing fossil fuels with biogas, the amounts of greenhouse gases that reach the atmosphere can be reduced. A questionnaire was sent out to more than 800 local citizens (of which half of them are subscribers of food waste collection) with questions about values, beliefs, motivation factors and opinions about efforts linked to the sorting of food waste. The results show that sustainability reasons are strong when it comes to why people decide to sort out food waste, and that a number of the subscribers of food waste collection consider it a moral obligation to take action in this matter. Several barriers, especially in the form of economic issues, preclude others from sorting. A need for more information, when it comes to the significance of this behavior, is also evident. As the thesis has its focus on pro-environmental behavior, factors in Stern’s Value-belief-norm theory, are used as the basis for the analysis. Blake’s model of barriers between environmental concern and action is used when studying what it is that prevents people from sorting out their food waste.