Assessing a Pilot Door-to-Door Municipal Collection Program in Greece: Implementation Insights and Evaluation Outcomes

Abstract

Door-to-door collection is the most effective method to meet the objectives of the EU’s new circular action plan. In line with the Directives (EU) 2018/851 and 2018/852, several municipalities in Greece are transitioning from the conventional kerbside system to door-to-door collection. In the municipality of Rafina-Pikermi, a pilot scheme for the collection of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) was implemented and operated for a nine-month period to separate waste into recyclables and biowaste. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of door-to-door waste collection in terms of purity, contamination levels, and resident satisfaction, involving 154 households and 528 residents. The analysis is based on data collected during the pilot program and includes results from waste sampling and transport to two facilities: a Materials Recovery Facility and a Mechanical Biological Treatment plant. Collection occurred five days a week, excluding weekends, and waste was sorted using barcodes into two categories based on the color of the bag (brown for biowaste and blue for recyclables). Each bag was weighed at the transport vehicle and analyzed at the recovery and biological treatment facilities to determine the percentage of impurities in the total weight and to separate it into various waste fractions. The results show that the purity levels for recycling waste from source separation of biowaste and recyclables are approximately 98% and 93%, respectively. Finally, an analysis of questionnaire data collected from participating households indicated that they rated the overall experience as satisfactory and provided feedback on general operational issues that could be improved. In conclusion, the current study proves that the development of source separation schemes is essential to achieving the goals set by the EU.