Informal waste collection and municipal waste management in Hungary: A pilot project featuring smartphones to estimate the extent of informally retrieved bulky waste

Abstract

Involvement of the Roma population in informal waste collection in the CEE (Central and Eastern Europe) region has barely been researched with collectors as research subjects themselves. This article focuses on collection of bulky municipal waste by predominantly Roma informal waste collectors. A pilot project was implemented in Budapest in 2023 with the aim of assessing the extent of informally retrieved bulky municipal waste otherwise destined for disposal by municipal authorities. This involved the use of smartphones to estimate informal waste accumulation and to monitor selection of waste categories and quantities transported for further use. A survey was thus applied to a sample area subject to annual bulky waste collection. Smartphones were deployed for this purpose to avoid direct intrusion into activities of informal waste collectors. While methodology is subject to major refinement, the key result lies in indication of a moderate extent of informally collected waste inferring an overall reduction of bulky waste destined for landfill disposal or incineration. A major extent of informally collected metallic waste for further likely resale through a transactional supply chain to international destinations was also identified. Policy implications also exist in relation to transformation of the domestic waste management sector in line with circular economy principles and in terms of integrating operative roles of informal and official waste collectors. Principally amongst these is reduced onus on penalisation of informal waste collection. Recognition of circular economy focused public services serendipitously performed by informal collectors may thus be merited despite consequential negative environmental effects.