6 CONCLUSIONS
This study investigated the nature and drivers of EMA in local government. Two contextual perspectives, functional and institutional imperatives, were discussed and analysed as predictors of EMA development in the context of waste and recycling services. We conjectured that although the use of EMA in local government is likely to be driven by both functional and institutional imperatives because of the voluntary nature of EMA and the lack of enforcement for collecting and using more expansive EMA in local government, institutional imperatives would be of lesser importance as drivers for EMA use.
The survey results indicated a moderate adoption of EMA for waste and recycling services in local government examined. When the level of environmental information was broadened, lower take up of EMA was found. This result suggests that the current focus of EMA in local government waste and recycling management remains at a narrow level. Hence, future policy needs to be directed towards establishing a ‘fuller account’ of internal and external environmental costs and impacts. The study also found that the use of direct EMA was driven by all functional variables examined: environmental uncertainty, strategic proactivity and operational complexity. The latter two were also significant drivers for more expansive EMA use. In contrast, although the use of direct EMA was positively related to community environmental expectations, this driver was not significantly related to accounting for broader environmental costs and impacts. Environmental regulations and cognitive pressure were not perceived to be effective for any level of EMA use in waste and recycling management.
