Recycling Behaviour of Italian Citizens in Connection with the Clarity of On-Pack Labels. A Bottom-Up Survey

Abstract

The present work studies, through an online survey, the recycling behaviours of a representative sample of Italian end users, in connection with the effectiveness of on-pack recycling indications of different packed materials. The study has a special focus on the clarity of on-pack recycling indications to convey waste sorting information, and the impact of clear and straightforward labelling to improve the sorting result. The work took advantage of social media as the distribution platform, thus obtaining a relatively high involvement of citizens. To investigate the representativeness of the sample, some of its characteristics were subject to checks and comparisons to their corresponding values of the Italian population. According to almost three-quarters of the responders, a clear and straightforward labelling will improve the result of their waste sorting drastically. The general awareness of the answerers relative to the importance of waste recycling and willingness to improve the quality of their sorted waste is very high among the participants but the overall satisfaction of the on-pack indications is relatively low. The score of on-pack labels in conveying information on recycling and waste segregation is evaluated as improvable. A higher perception of circular economy concept leads to more re-utilisation of the packaging parts, which increases with the awareness about the importance of recycling.

Design-Based Approach to Support Sorting Behavior of Food Packaging

“…This finding is supported by previous research that shows that users perform waste sorting with little cognitive effort and based on their former experience unless facing a new challenge [23,25,36]. In this case, a clear, concise, and consistent message is more likely to automate sorting behavior [31,55].…”

Sustainable Communication in the B2C Market—The Impact of Packaging

“…Various research points out that consumers, unfortunately, do not receive appropriate and understandable information, which results in confusion or indifference [35][36][37]. The informative function of packaging refers to the provision and uninterrupted transmission of relevant data to all participants, both in logistics chains and to individual consumers.…”