Work

Bridging the gap: social practices of а regional operator for municipal solid waste

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: To date, municipal solid waste disposal and separate waste collection are still problematic in Russia. To contribute to the solution to this problem, the study considers the activities of Tyumen Ecological Association, which is a regional operator for municipal solid waste management in Tyumen Oblast, as a social practice. Our goal is to test the possibilities of analyzing the structure of the social practice of waste management and tracking its dynamics using the automation of data collection and processing. In this case, we understand the practice of waste collection and management with reference to the theoretical framework of the theory of practices — as a system of interconnected elements: materials, competences, meanings. The structure of this practice was identified by analyzing its elements, such as materials, competences, meanings, and dynamics. The analysis included the posts of the regional operator's community in the VKontakte social network. The study used frequency analysis of words, “Word at a Glance” analysis, thematic clustering and evaluation of the dynamics of thematic clusters. As a result, the structure of the social practice of municipal solid waste management of the regional operator was revealed and the dynamics of the 10 most frequent thematic clusters was analyzed. We identified two configurations of practice elements in the activities of the regional operator. The first configuration is related to the standardized activities of waste accumulation, transportation, treatment, and disposal. The second configuration is related to the introduction of elements of separate waste collection. The study has concluded that the two configurations of the regional operator's practice elements described in the paper are still not interrelated. Moreover, special efforts might be needed to integrate separate waste collection into the activities of regional operator. The findings can be used by regional waste management operators, residents' organizations, and volunteer organizations to scale up separate waste collection.

Source: Zhurnal Sotsiologii i Sotsialnoy Antropologii (The Journal of Sociology and Social Anthropology)

DOI: 10.31119/jssa.2025.28.3.5

Authors: Olga Zakharova, Irina Pupysheva, Anna Glazkova

Institution: University of Tyumen

Language: English

Topic: Municipal Solid Waste Management

Subfield: Waste Management and Disposal

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Responsible consumption and production, Sustainable cities and communities

Open Access status: diamond

Funder: Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation