IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i10p4623-d1658472.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effectiveness of Municipal Waste Collection and Management Policy in Lithuania

Author

Listed:
  • Viktorija Bobinaite

    (Lithuanian Energy Institute, Breslaujos Str. 3, LT-44403 Kaunas, Lithuania)

  • Gediminas Naujokas

    (Lithuanian Energy Institute, Breslaujos Str. 3, LT-44403 Kaunas, Lithuania)

Abstract

This article addresses the scientific gap relating to the limited representation of municipal waste policies in quantitative assessments, as well as their goal to “catch up” economies in the context of SDG 12. The novelty of the paper is defined by the guidelines developed for the consistent logical research of the effectiveness of municipal waste collection and management policies. Herein, a Lithuanian case is considered, with the period of analysis ranging from 2012 to 2023. A review of the scientific literature, an analysis of waste policy, and statistical data analysis methods were applied. The statistical data analysis showed that, while waste generation was historically increasing in parallel with the growth in national income and was therefore inconsistent with the long-term goal to reduce waste, municipal waste, which remains present in a significant amount and makes up one-fifth of the waste structure, is decreasing by 2.0% a year, which is conducive to achieving the goal. An analysis of the municipal waste treatment structure revealed that the priority order of waste management is maintained, as ready-to-reuse and recycling are dominant (accounting for half of all municipal waste management activities), followed by incineration, which accounts for a third of all municipal waste management activities. The requirement to reduce municipal waste disposal in landfills is being successfully implemented. From 2012 to 2023, the proportion of municipal waste disposal in landfills significantly decreased, and it presently accounts for 8.0%, while the target value is 5% by 2030. Difficulties arise in implementing requirements to sort municipal waste and increase the share of ready-to-reuse and recycled waste. In 2023, 66% of municipal waste was mixed, and the share of sorted municipal waste is slowly increasing. A decrease in recycled and ready-to-reuse municipal waste has been observed since 2017. Food waste is a particular issue. A total of 100.9 kilotons of food was wasted in 2023; however, this value is 12.3% less than that of 2020. Other indicators are also analyzed in this article. The results show changes in unsustainable consumption habits and a shift towards responsible consumption in relation to the implemented municipal waste collection and management policy. In the future, it will be necessary to conduct research into the problems that are identified in this article in order to propose scientifically sound and responsible consumption solutions in the areas responding to SDG 12; this will increase the effectiveness of municipal waste collection and management policies.

Suggested Citation

  • Viktorija Bobinaite & Gediminas Naujokas, 2025. "Effectiveness of Municipal Waste Collection and Management Policy in Lithuania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-30, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:10:p:4623-:d:1658472
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/10/4623/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/10/4623/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nadezhda Blagoeva & Vanya Georgieva & Delyana Dimova, 2023. "Relationship between GDP and Municipal Waste: Regional Disparities and Implication for Waste Management Policies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-23, October.
    2. Meetha Ram & Enrico Bracci, 2024. "Waste Management, Waste Indicators and the Relationship with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-17, September.
    3. Younghyun Kwon & Suyoung Lee & Jisu Bae & Sein Park & Heesung Moon & Taewoo Lee & Kyuyeon Kim & Jungu Kang & Taewan Jeon, 2024. "Evaluation of Incinerator Performance and Policy Framework for Effective Waste Management and Energy Recovery: A Case Study of South Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-14, January.
    4. Su, Mengying & Yang, Zhongyu & Abbas, Shujaat & Bilan, Yuriy & Majewska, Agnieszka, 2023. "Toward enhancing environmental quality in OECD countries: Role of municipal waste, renewable energy, environmental innovation, and environmental policy," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 975-984.
    5. Andrea Pronti & Roberto Zoboli, 2024. "Institutional Quality, Trust in Institutions, and Waste Recycling Performance in the EU27," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-18, January.
    6. Vaclovas Miskinis & Arvydas Galinis & Inga Konstantinaviciute & Viktorija Bobinaite & Jarek Niewierowicz & Eimantas Neniskis & Egidijus Norvaisa & Dalius Tarvydas, 2025. "Key Determinants of Energy Intensity and Greenhouse Gas Emission Savings in Commercial and Public Services in the Baltic States," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-26, February.
    7. Chun-Chih Chen & Yu-Shing Chang, 2024. "Leveraging Circular Economy Metrics for Data-Driven Forecasting of Solid Waste Production in Europe," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-15, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hossein Komasi & Amir Karbassi Yazdi & Mohammad Eskandari Sani & Yong Tan, 2024. "Assessing the Circular Economy in Regions of Chile by Using Multiple-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-21, December.
    2. Salim Yılmaz & Ahmet Murat Günal & Gizem Köse & Murat Baş, 2025. "The Environmental and Economic Dynamics of Food Waste and Greenhouse Gas Emissions: A Causal Time Series Analysis from 2000 to 2022," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-26, January.
    3. Oana-Ramona Lobonț & Ana-Elena Varadi & Sorana Vătavu & Nicoleta-Mihaela Doran, 2025. "Bridges or Barriers? Unpacking the Institutional Drivers of Business Climate Adaptation in the EU," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-20, May.
    4. Biljana Grujić Vučkovski & Nikola V. Ćurčić & Ileana Georgiana Gheorghe, 2025. "Circular Economy as a Driver of Sustainable Growth: Quantitative Analysis of the Role of Recycling and Secondary Raw Materials in the EU," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-17, June.
    5. Viktorija Bobinaite & Eimantas Neniskis & Inga Konstantinaviciute & Dalius Tarvydas, 2025. "Identifying and Assessing Vulnerable Micro-Enterprises in Lithuania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(12), pages 1-21, June.
    6. De Pascale, Gianluigi & Pronti, Andrea & Zoboli, Roberto, 2024. "The role of local institutional quality for the digital and environmental transitions in Italy," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 689-705.
    7. Linda Veliverronena & Agnese Davidsone, 2024. "The Role of Trust and Perceived Social Justice in the Waste Recycling Practices of Households in Latvia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-19, December.
    8. Pavlo Lyshtva & Artūras Torkelis & Yaroslav Kobets & Estefania Carpio-Vallejo & Andrea Dobri & Jelena Barbir & Viktoria Voronova & Gintaras Denafas & Linas Kliucininkas, 2025. "Characterization of the Municipal Plastic and Multilayer Packaging Waste in Three Cities of the Baltic States," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-19, January.
    9. Wang Jie & Rabnawaz Khan, 2024. "Breaking the CO 2 Gridlock: Can Renewables Lead the Way for the OECD?," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-29, September.
    10. Katarzyna Grzesik & Magdalena Zabochnicka & Robert Oleniacz & Ryszard Kozakiewicz, 2025. "Quantifying Resource and Energy Losses from Waste Fires in Poland: A Barrier to Circular Economy Transition," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-22, May.
    11. Md. Qamruzzaman & Salma Karim & Sylvia Kor, 2024. "Nexus between Innovation–Openness–Natural Resources–Environmental Quality in N-11 Countries: What Is the Role of Environmental Tax?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-33, May.
    12. Rame, Rame & Purwanto, Purwanto & Sudarno, Sudarno, 2024. "Industry 5.0 and sustainability: An overview of emerging trends and challenges for a green future," Innovation and Green Development, Elsevier, vol. 3(4).
    13. Elias G. Carayannis & Pantelis C. Kostis & Hasan Dinçer & Serhat Yüksel, 2025. "Economic Impacts of Integrating Strategic Innovation in Environmental Policy-Making for Sustainable Energy Investments," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 16(1), pages 2521-2548, March.
    14. Shabir, Maria & Pazienza, Pasquale & De Lucia, Caterina, 2023. "Energy innovation and ecological footprint: Evidence from OECD countries during 1990–2018," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    15. Lin, Keliang & Ghosh, Sudeshna & Abbas, Shujaat & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Ferraz, Diogo & Doğan, Buhari, 2024. "Heterogenous impact of energy security and environmental regulations on energy transition: Exploring the disparity between high-income and middle-income countries," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 237(PB).
    16. M. Dal Molin & A.C. Pinate & M.G. Brandano, 2025. "Institutional Quality and Green Innovation in Italy: A Regional Perspective," Working Paper CRENoS 202508, Centre for North South Economic Research, University of Cagliari and Sassari, Sardinia.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    SDG12; policy evaluation; statistical analysis; case study;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:10:p:4623-:d:1658472. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.