Reducing household waste : a social practice perspective on Swedish household waste prevention

This thesis studies household waste prevention from a social science perspective. Swedish waste management is efficient in handling waste but has not succeeded in reducing its quantities, even though the issue of waste prevention is being raised at both international and national levels. The aim of this thesis is to study and analyse the practice of household waste prevention. I seek to understand and explain how it may be possible for households in their everyday to reduce that waste. With understanding comes an aspiration to mitigate whatever impedes households from reducing their waste. A second aim is therefore to apply these new understandings and make policy suggestions as to how household waste prevention can be promoted and supported. My research questions are: • How is everyday household waste prevention as a practice narrated and discussed? And how can this practice and the activities in it be understood in connection with social structures? • What obstacles and opportunities do households experience in connection with the practice of everyday waste prevention? • What policy suggestions can be drawn from these findings?