Sustainable consumption and waste management

Abstract

The Just Transition Mechanism, the European Green Deal Investment Plan (EGDIP) and the European industrial strategy highlight the main priorities and lines of action that will affect the course towards sustainable development, its adaptation to the transformation of EU into a new, more sustainable economy – a climate neutral, competitive environment through developing the circular economy. The goal of the study is to assess the public opinion based on an analysis of data on the views of inhabitants of Latvia on pollution, grime or other environmental problems based on the European Union statistics on income and living conditions (EU-SILC). The research methods used to achieve the goal were the analysis of scientific publications and previous research and analysis of views of inhabitants of Latvia on pollution, grime or other environmental problems. For evaluation analysis, time-series analysis and cross-tabulations of evaluation by regions, by territories and by household size were used. For testing the differences of inhabitant evaluations, the chi-square test was used. The results of the analysis show that there are not significant differences in views on pollution, grime or other environmental problems in Latvia’s regions, in territories and by the household size. The results of the study could be useful to industries and situations and can serve as the basis for decision-making for pollution reduction and other researchers’ empirical efforts in this field.