MANAGING CHANGE IN AN ENVIRONMENTALLY CONSCIOUS SOCIETY - A CASE-STUDY, GOTHENBURG (SWEDEN)

The treatment and disposal of sewage sludge in environmentally conscious societies is becoming increasingly problematical due, in large part, to public attitudes. Strategies have to be developed which either successfully defend existing routes or which manage changes that have public support. A case study of managing change at a large wastewater treatment plant, serving Gothenburg, Sweden, is presented. Three radically different alternatives to the current practice, of lime addition to dewatered raw sludge and disposal to land reclamation, were appraised to a common set of criteria and compared with the existing route. The options considered were incineration, drying of dewatered anaerobically digested sludge, and disposal of dewatered anaerobically digested sludge to underground cavities. An account is given of the public discussion meetings that were held at strategically important times, the views expressed at these being taken into account by GRYAAB's management board in their decision to opt for the disposal of sludge to underground cavities.