A spatial interaction model for the representation of user access to household waste recycling centres

Managing waste is a crucial challenge for modern societies. The UK government has established ambitious targets in terms of landfill diversion for household waste. Household Waste Recycling Centres represent key facilities for achieving these targets. However, Local Authority budgets are under severe strain due to reductions in central government transfers. As such, local councils often need to perform reconfigurations of the recycling centres networks, by reducing the number of sites or their opening hours while still offering adequate service levels. Central to being able to do this, is understanding the spatial patterns of access to such centres. Therefore, this paper develops a spatial interaction model aimed at examining and exploring users’ behaviour and preferences when choosing recycling centres. Specifically, an origin-constrained gravity model is developed; through a careful estimation of its attractiveness parameters, the model is capable of describing demand flows from Sheffield City Council districts to Household Waste Recycling Facilities. The results are compared to actual data obtained through a users’ survey from an English Local Authority. The high level of correlation between the results provided by the model and actual users’ preferences indicates that the model can be a valuable tool in describing users’ behaviour in accessing the service. Based on this, the model can be employed in order to estimate the impacts of modifications to the network configuration on users, performing scenario analyses and providing useful suggestions to planners.