Can area managers connect policy and tenants? Implementation and diffusion of a new waste management system in Linköping, Sweden

Abstract

Recycling and reducing household waste are political goals internationally, nationally and locally. In Sweden, households in apartment buildings seem to sort their waste to a lesser extent than households in single-family houses. This paper analyses the challenges of the diffusion of a new waste management system in apartment buildings, and focuses on a municipal housing company and the actions of its area managers. It is argued that area managers can be regarded as street-level bureaucrats who act as 'collectors' of tenants' everyday practices in the studied implementation process. The study is based on interviews, document analysis and observations.

Meeting urban GHG reduction goals with waste diversion: multi-residential buildings

“…Three studies highlight the role of property managers, finding them to be instrumental in introducing new waste management and sustainability programs in multi-family buildings and negotiating solutions to problems as they arise (Fallde 2015;Genivar 2010;Hopkins et al 2017). In providing their professional expertise to condo boards, Garfunkel (2017) sees property managers as being an inherent part of condominium governance structure.…”