Household Cooperation in Waste Management: Initial Conditions and Intervention

Abstract

Abstract. The need to divert municipal solid waste away from landfill is an important policy goal in many countries, and the possibility that households cooperate in this endeavor, an oft pursued solution. There is a vast body of theoretical and empirical work which provides insights on the kind of household conditions and intervention that may stimulate such cooperation. This paper reviews the relevant literature in environmental and behavioural economics and synthesizes it around two themes: (1) initial conditions conducive to cooperation (including household motives and constraints and, by association, the demographics of cooperative households) and (2) intervention that may stimulate (or suppress) cooperation. Three distinct attributes of intervention are examined in particular detail, namely convenience, charges and communication. The paper concludes by providing a succinct set of cues for policy-makers and scheme-operators wishing to stimulate household cooperation in waste management, and by identifying gaps in the literature which merit further research.

Behaviour in sustainability transitions: A mixed methods literature review

“…iii psychology, cognitive sciences, economics, political science, marketing, business management, sociology and anthropology amongst others iv For example, a psychological view of avoiding household plastic waste may focus on a person's attitudes towards avoidance versus recycling and whether they believe that important others also avoid plastic (after the Theory of Planned Behaviour, Ajzen 1991). A behavioural economist might emphasise interactions between internal motivations, incentives and the implicit nudges built into waste management systems (Briguglio, 2016;Gneezy et al, 2011). Some researchers recognise household plastic use as a habitual act and primarily consider an individuals' routines and environmental cues that enable or restrict recycling behaviour (Verplanken et al, 2018), or emphasise the role of mental shortcuts ("heuristics") or biases that systematically tip the scales of human behaviour in suboptimal directions (Ariely, 2008).…”

“…Some researchers recognise household plastic use as a habitual act and primarily consider an individuals' routines and environmental cues that enable or restrict recycling behaviour (Verplanken et al, 2018), or emphasise the role of mental shortcuts ("heuristics") or biases that systematically tip the scales of human behaviour in suboptimal directions (Ariely, 2008). Still others may emphasise that environmental behaviours involves shared meanings, competencies and materials (e.g., norms and values associated with plastic, alternatives to using it, washing and storing plastics, placing plastics in a household recycling bin) that together hold socially-defined meaning as a social practice (Briguglio, 2016;Bulkeley and Gregson, 2009). See further below in Results.…”

The Role of Food Packaging Design in Consumer Recycling Behavior—A Literature Review

“…The review highlights the potential of the visual attributes and the quality of packaging as a communication channel for encouraging consumers to sort the food packaging waste. The efficiency of the waste management system and the quality of recycled products can hence be affected by the proper design of food packaging.Sustainability 2019, 11, 4350 2 of 23 waste management scheme, and in particular in sorting at the source, have been discussed in previous studies [1,6,[16][17][18][19][20][21]. For example, the fractions that are obtained when sorting at the source (e.g., glass, plastic, and paper) have a higher quality compared to fractions obtained when sorting at MRFs, and the source separation process is less expensive [1,3,19].…”

Public Perceptions of Waste Management in Sri Lanka: A Focus Group Study

“…A Vietnamese study by Nguyen et al [5] showed that communication must appeal to citizens' moral motives and personal conscience to encourage waste management practices. This is supported in a review of environmental behaviours by Briguglio [17], which indicates a relationship between strong moral motives and preparedness to cooperate in response to communicated initiatives. Czajkowski et al [22] showed that citizens' responses to communicated social norms information are strongly related to their current engagement with household recycling practices.…”

“…As exemplified by the case of Sri Lanka, many countries face significant challenges in supporting citizens' waste management practices [16], and motivational aspects are clearly fundamental in these efforts. Although studies indicate that communication initiatives adapted to specific audiences may support waste behaviour change [16][17][18][19], a recent literature review reveals greater challenges for resident participation in lower income economies [16]. Moreover, studies of waste behaviour motivation typically analyse largescale survey data in relation to motivation models [2,[20][21][22][23][24].…”