Information

This project, funded by the European Commission (EC contract no.: ENV4-CT96-0239), was a Spanish - British comparative study conducted in partnership between the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and the University of Kent at Canterbury, and co-ordinated by Enrique Laraña.

The project commenced on 1.7.96 and was funded until 31.12.99. Follow-up work, including additional cases, is continuing.

The project's objectives were to investigate:

• processes of issue formation in relation to waste management;
• the roles played therein by environmental movements and other collective actors such as governmental agencies and private associations;
• the effects of the contention surrounding waste management facilities upon citizens' and professionals' understanding of waste management and other environmental issues.

The project focused on the discourses and strategies elaborated by the main actors concerned with the problems of waste management. Of particular interest were different actors' perceptions of the risks associated with various strategies of waste disposal and how perceptions are changed in the course of controversies surrounding new installations.

These issues are being investigated by means of a comparative analysis of twelve cases (6 each in Spain and England) in which waste incinerators / energy-from-waste plants and /or other waste processing facilities have been proposed, are being built, or are already operating. Two principal forms of data were collected and analysed:

• data derived from the researchers' direct observations;
• data collected by means of interviews conducted with the main actors involved.

These were supplemented by systematic scrutiny of national and local media reports relating to particular cases.

The investigation focused upon the perspectives and roles of:

• environmental movement organisations active on waste issues at the local and national levels;
• governmental agencies concerned with the implementation of policies on these issues;
• politicians involved in controversies over waste, mainly at the local level;
• private associations, including corporate interests, concerned with waste management.

Publications

• C. Rootes (2003). 'Why do some campaigns against waste facilities succeed where others fail?', in C. Ludwig, S. Hellweg & S. Stucki, eds Municipal Solid Waste Management: strategies and technologies for sustainable solutions. Berlin, Heidelberg and New York: Springer. pp. 425-428.
• C. Rootes (2003). 'Local mobilizations against waste incinerators in England', in C. Ludwig, S. Hellweg & S. Stucki, eds Municipal Solid Waste Management: strategies and technologies for sustainable solutions. Berlin, Heidelberg and New York: Springer. pp. 439-445.
• C. Rootes (2001) 'Discourse, Opportunity or Structure? The development and outcomes of local mobilisations against waste incinerators in England', paper presented to the workshop on local environmental politics, European Consortium for Political Research Joint Sessions, Grenoble, 6-11 April. http://www.essex.ac.uk/ecpr/jointsessions/grenoble/papers/ws10/rootes2.pdf

Further Information

Further information is available from:

Chris Rootes
Director
Centre for the Study of Social & Political Movements,
SSPSSR,
CoNE,
The University
CANTERBURY
Kent CT2 7NF.

Tel.: 01227 823374 (direct).
Fax: 01227 827005.

E-mail: C.A.Rootes@kent.ac.uk