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Provision of feedback to promote householders’ use of a kerbside recycling scheme: a social dilemma perspective

Provision of feedback to promote householders’ use of a kerbside recycling scheme: a social dilemma perspective
Provision of feedback to promote householders’ use of a kerbside recycling scheme: a social dilemma perspective
As English local authorities develop strategies to deal with the growing volumes of municipal waste created in their districts, householder participation in recycling initiatives is becoming increasingly important. Taking a social dilemma perspective, this paper adopts an individual (psychological) strategy as a means of enhancing kerbside recycling use in the London Borough of Havering. Three groups of householders received motivational messages on recycling performance with a different bias: critical, neutral or encouraging, whilst a further group acted as a control. Although differences in recycling behaviour prior to and following intervention were not statistically significant for any treatment group, average use of the scheme was found to decrease post-leaflet in all cases, but less so for those in the 'encouraging' message group. Responses to a questionnaire survey indicated that householder attitudes did not vary significantly between treatment groups. The study shows that an individual (psychological) approach alone is not sufficient to enhance householder recycling behaviour in Havering over the short term. Future promotional strategies are suggested that combine both the individual and the collective approach to motivate and encourage recycling participation.
municipal waste, kerbside recycling, social dilemma, recycling behaviour, feedback
1088-1697
7-18
Lyas, Joanne K.
07098ac2-e123-4c91-ac2f-99eefbca78e3
Shaw, Peter J.
935dfebf-9fb6-483c-86da-a21dba8c1989
Van-Vygt, Mark
6dd54391-e1cc-4e32-b3e6-bd4043344507
Lyas, Joanne K.
07098ac2-e123-4c91-ac2f-99eefbca78e3
Shaw, Peter J.
935dfebf-9fb6-483c-86da-a21dba8c1989
Van-Vygt, Mark
6dd54391-e1cc-4e32-b3e6-bd4043344507

Lyas, Joanne K., Shaw, Peter J. and Van-Vygt, Mark (2004) Provision of feedback to promote householders’ use of a kerbside recycling scheme: a social dilemma perspective. The Journal of Solid Waste Technology and Management, 30 (1), 7-18.

Record type: Article

Abstract

As English local authorities develop strategies to deal with the growing volumes of municipal waste created in their districts, householder participation in recycling initiatives is becoming increasingly important. Taking a social dilemma perspective, this paper adopts an individual (psychological) strategy as a means of enhancing kerbside recycling use in the London Borough of Havering. Three groups of householders received motivational messages on recycling performance with a different bias: critical, neutral or encouraging, whilst a further group acted as a control. Although differences in recycling behaviour prior to and following intervention were not statistically significant for any treatment group, average use of the scheme was found to decrease post-leaflet in all cases, but less so for those in the 'encouraging' message group. Responses to a questionnaire survey indicated that householder attitudes did not vary significantly between treatment groups. The study shows that an individual (psychological) approach alone is not sufficient to enhance householder recycling behaviour in Havering over the short term. Future promotional strategies are suggested that combine both the individual and the collective approach to motivate and encourage recycling participation.

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Published date: February 2004
Keywords: municipal waste, kerbside recycling, social dilemma, recycling behaviour, feedback

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 48013
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/48013
ISSN: 1088-1697
PURE UUID: 9078633f-d7ce-4249-8e69-63de453120ec
ORCID for Peter J. Shaw: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-0925-5010

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 24 Aug 2007
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 02:46

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Contributors

Author: Joanne K. Lyas
Author: Peter J. Shaw ORCID iD
Author: Mark Van-Vygt

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