Location, location, location : The use of GIS to identify relationships in kerbside recycling participation

摘要

Around 66,000 households weekly participation in a kerbside recycling scheme were monitored for the period of over a year in the case study area, making the area the largest monitored kerbside scheme in the UK. The paper analyses average weekly participation of households per ward in the case study kerbside scheme. The participation is then compared with the socio-economic status of that particular electoral ward. The 2001 census data for that electoral ward is used to obtain a Townsend Index, used by social scientists to derive a 'z' score, relating to socio-economic status. The research was performed on the 'ArcView' Geographical Information Systems (GIS) package, which enabled spatial data to be linked with socio-economic data. The use of a GIS model has found a moderate to strong link between household participation (%) and socio-economics (Townsend Index Score) in the case study area. In testing the hypothesis on the GIS model another significant factor affecting participation in the kerbside scheme was discovered. The new factor was called the 'Nant-y-Gwyddon effect'.