Socioeconomic and technical factors in European agricultural sustainable waste management: The case of Spain
Socioeconomic and technical factors in European agricultural sustainable waste management: The case of Spain

Summary/Abstract: Research background: Inadequate management of agricultural waste is a growing challengethat poses significant risks to the environmental sustainability of ecosystems due to the lack ofdetailed information on how socioeconomic factors influence the management of such waste. The importance of addressing this issue is reflected in various European policies, such asDirectives 2018/851 and 2018/852. However, current initiatives do not sufficiently consider thefactors that affect producers' behavior in terms of waste management, limiting the effective-ness of these policies in improving the sustainability of the sector.Purpose of the article: This study seeks to identify and analyze the technical, economic, andsocial factors shaping agricultural waste management practices among farmers and livestockproducers. It also proposes policy and organizational recommendations that could serve asbenchmarks. Spain, a key player in the European agri-food sector, serves as a case study.Methods: Data were collected through a structured survey targeting Spanish agricultural andlivestock producers, focusing on socioeconomic, technical, and waste management practices.Spain’s primary production system was selected as a representative European case due to itspivotal role in agricultural and livestock output. The survey, distributed via agri-food cooper-atives and digital knowledge-sharing platforms, garnered 396 valid responses, achievinga 95% confidence level and a maximum margin of error of 2.2%. The dataset was analyzedusing binary logistic regression to estimate the likelihood of effective waste managementbased on selected explanatory variables.Findings & value added: The findings highlight that economic factors such as the volume offarm income directly and significantly influence waste management, indicating that higherincome favors better management. Other influential factors are of a social nature: level ofeducation, gender and age of producers. This research underscores the urgent need for tai-lored policy interventions to address these factors, advocating for enhanced waste manage-ment initiatives, specialized training programs, and collaborative advisory services in partner-ship with cooperatives and industry stakeholders.

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