Refrigerated Display Cabinets (RDCs) are used in the retail sector to display chilled and frozen food, and beverages. The manufacture of RDCs is typified by the extensive use of materials and energy, meaning that the development of a Circular Economy in this sector is particularly important.A number of behavioural barriers are preventing the development of the Circular Economy but an appropriate behaviour change intervention could help to overcome them. This paper investigates how effective the use of Persuasive Communication could be in influencing the Behavioural Attitudes, Product Perceptions and Behavioural Intentions towards the purchase of remanufactured RDCs. Participants in this study are engineers and academic experts of retail refrigeration equipment.The study was carried out in three consecutive stages. In the first stage participants completed a questionnaire, which assessed their Behavioural Attitudes, Product Perceptions and Behavioural Intentions. In the second stage participants were exposed to the intervention, which was the Persuasive Communication in the form of an audiovisual presentation. In the third stage participants completed a second questionnaire which assessed the impact of the intervention. The results show that the Persuasive Communication had a positive impact on the participants' Behavioural Attitudes, Product Perceptions and Behavioural Intentions towards the purchase of remanufactured RDCs. This paper demonstrates how effective this type of intervention could be, if developed further to create a target market and generate demand for remanufactured RDCs.
Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCGs) are products that are purchased and consumed frequently to satisfy continuous consumer demand. In a linear economy, FMCGs are typically offered as single-use and disposable products. Limitations in product design, insufficient collection systems, and inefficient recovery processes prevent high recycling rates. As a result, FMCGs often end up in landfill or the environment, contributing to waste accumulation, and pollution. Whilst recycling is the most common waste prevention strategy practiced by the industry, the process is limited to addressing only the final stage of the product life cycle, omitting the overproduction and consumption of materials typical of FMCGs. Instead, reuse is a strategy that is capable of extending the value of resources by slowing material flows. Novel reuse models that require the consumer to interact with durable primary packaging and products are emerging in the FMCG industry. However, the constituent elements and operation principles of such reuse models are not fully understood. The aim of this research is to develop a comprehensive characterisation of reuse models and to evaluate their potential to deliver environmental value. Method: Ninety-two reuse offerings were selected and analysed to identify their reuse system elements. The analysis led to the identification of a framework including five reuse models, which were also evaluated to establish their capability to deliver environmental value when compared to conventional single-use and disposable FMCGs. Results: Currently in the FMCG sector, reusable products are mostly durable packaging, such as bottles and containers for beverages, foods, personal and home care goods, and are infrequently durable products, such as personal and baby care goods, including razors and nappies. Three reuse models involve exclusive reuse, a behaviour by which a reusable product is used and kept by a single user throughout the product lifetime. In exclusive reuse models, users are provided with either a reusable product (model 1), a reusable product with preparation for reuse infrastructure (model 2), or access to preparation for reuse infrastructure (model 3). Two reuse models involve sequential reuse, a behaviour by which a reusable product is used by multiple users throughout the product lifetime and returned after each use to a provider. In sequential reuse models, users are provided with either a reusable product with preparation for reuse infrastructure and provider-operated recovery services (model 4), or a reusable product and provider-operated services for recovery and preparation for reuse (model 5). Whilst the five reuse models can operate standalone, some offerings were found to embed a multi-model approach. Both exclusive and sequential reuse models are capable of delivering environmental value by reducing the use of natural resources and retaining their value in the economy. In particular, sequential reuse models were found to have a greater capability to increase the share of recyclable resources by offering access to infrastructure for the closure of material loops. Conclusions: Consumers can currently access five reuse models and choose between exclusive and sequential reuse behaviours. When adopted in conjunction with recycling, reuse models can enable a more efficient consumption of FMCGs. Providing the infrastructure necessary to enable reuse and recycling is key to the successful and sustainable deployment of the reuse models.
A Circular Economy is an economic and industrial system where resources are kept in use for as long as possible. This system is an alternaQve to the "take-make-use-dispose" path which is followed in many industries.Businesses can adopt a circular approach to producQon by implemenQng a range of alternaQve business models. These models require consumer acceptance, however there is currently a lack of knowledge and familiarity and with these models, which is prevenQng the development and adopQon of a Circular Economy. There is liWle research on behaviour change with specific regard to the Circular Economy. This is due to the concepts' mulQdisciplinary scope which makes data collecQon methods expansive and challenging. Z) The Pro-Circular Change Model (P-CCM) is a novel theoreIcal framework, which uses a Theory ofPlanned Behaviour (TPB), Pro-Circular Values (P-CV) and Persuasive CommunicaQon (PC) to idenQfy and influence behaviours that can support the development of a Circular Economy. For the purpose of the model, behaviours that are brought about due to the prioriQsing of resource-efficiency were defined as Pro-Circular.
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