A social receptiveness analysis on smart waste management – A case study for Portugal

The technical and operational implementation of smart waste management methods is a complex and time-consuming process and therefore there is a strong resistance to its adoption by the public. At the same time, we live in an era marked by the existence of a greater desire for change driven by environmental and social concerns and technological development towards smart city implementation. In this scenario, it is essential, at this point, to draw the portray of the Portuguese awareness concerning intelligent waste management existing projects and evaluate the population's receptivity to these implementations. To obtain the data from the public, an online questionnaire was implemented, and 626 responses were obtained. From the data collected, the Portuguese population is largely unaware of the existence of new waste management methods (82% are unaware of their existence), existing, however, great openness (80%) to their implementation. [Display omitted] •Smart waste projects are well received in Portugal and implemented regionally.•Age and sex influence the actions and knowledge regarding waste.•There is a relationship between recycling and considering the payment system unfair.•People are open to participate in new projects, despite the lack of knowledge.•People who separate their waste are more open to smart waste management projects.