Comparison of Household Organic Waste Management Systems in the European Union: Best Practices and Constraints

Rapid and uncontrolled population growth, urbanization and modern lifestyle have put cities under pressure. The large production of urban waste is one of them. In the improvement process of household urban food waste and the progressive transition toward a circular economy, according to the goals established in Directive 2008/851, from January 1st, 2024, all European Union (EU) countries may opt for the separation and recycling of biowaste at source or through the selective collection. As a result, EU countries are under pressure to implement or restructure their household organic waste management systems to comply with this directive, and the practices they apply can be replicated in other places of the world. However, the rate of separate collection of household organic waste has been quite heterogeneous, with some EU countries reaching higher levels than others. Therefore, this article aims to contribute to the improvement of household organic waste management practices, aiming at the transition to a circular economy, based on the definition of the best practices applied by the member states, which can be replicated in other states. A Case Study methodology has been applied in this work, where 49 reports from organizations of all EU were analyzed, covering the 27 state members case studies. Based on this analysis, a roadmap will be proposed with information that will be valuable for policymakers and professionals in strategic areas to improve household organic waste management practices. In this roadmap, it will be possible to identify factors such as socioeconomic-demographic characteristics, the type of collection and treatment, restrictions on landfills and communication campaigns that can impact the success of implementing a closed-loop waste management system. This means a system, which seeks to ensure quality recovery, reduce the use of virgin resources, keep this waste out of landfills and move towards a circular economy. As a result of this work it was identified that in the most developed countries in organic waste management, household organic waste management systems are based on four pillars: legal restrictions on the use of landfills, regular communication campaigns, selective door-to-door and mandatory collection and well-defined fee methodologies.