Waste management and solid waste-disposal are prominent modern urban services throughout the industrialized world. Iceland has in excess of 318,000 inhabitants, about 200,000 of whom live in Reykjavík, the capital, and its adjoining municipalities. Since 1991, The City of Reykjavík and fiveother municipalities have coordinated their solid waste disposal through an independent firm named SORPA, which these six municipalities jointly own and run. Seven representatives from the municipalities and the general manager, form SORPA’s Board of Directors. Municipalities with ownership are: Reykjavík Kópavogur Hafnarfjörður Garðabær Seltjarnarnes Mosfellsbær The formation of SORPA received a strong push from increased debate on environmental issues. Simultaneously, its formation was influenced by an Icelandic government policy issued in the early 1990s to reduce solid waste, step by step. The most densely populated area, the capital area, had already induced problems in waste disposal that had to be dealt with. Open waste areas at city borders and areas with unsorted waste covered by thin layers of earth had been the only options. Aesthetic problems were obvious, pollution evident and recycling absent. SORPA was designated to tackle the problems. SORPA has ca. 120 employment positions.
