Conceptualizing the interplay between remoteness and modes of governing solid waste in Arctic small and medium-sized cities

Municipal solid waste management (MSWM) remains a significant yet often overlooked challenge in cities located in the Arctic, particularly with respect to societal, environmental, and governance considerations. These cities, often located far from decision-making centers and recycling infrastructure, face the need to develop innovative, context-specific waste strategies, challenging the idea that they are peripheral to national and international environmental (waste) governance. Instead, they act as actors and sites where unique waste-related policies are created. In this conceptual paper, we draw on the modes of governing municipal waste framework developed by Bulkeley and colleagues, and further developed by Pollans, to examine how remoteness impacts the advancement of MSWM in the Arctic. In this vein, we demonstrate that the impacts of remoteness are reflected in Arctic cities and their national governments' capacity to manage solid waste at a distance. These impacts affect national governance's ability to enforce waste regulation locally, and cities' capacity to develop, acquire, and fund waste treatment innovations and infrastructure. The impacts of remoteness are also evident in residents' engagement in environmental initiatives and their development of a sense of place attachment. Future research on the relationship between remoteness and MSWM in the Arctic should include comparative studies of metropolitan and remote urban areas to gain a broader understanding of their unique features and shared characteristics.