The Effects of Environmental Management Systems on Source Separation in the Work and Home Settings

Abstract

Abstract:Measures that challenge the generation of waste are needed to address the global problem of the increasing volumes of waste that are generated in both private homes and workplaces. Source separation at the workplace is commonly implemented by environmental management systems (EMS). In the present study, the relationship between source separation at work and at home was investigated. A questionnaire that maps psychological and behavioural predictors of source separation was distributed to employees at different workplaces. The results show that respondents with awareness of EMS report higher levels of source separation at work, stronger environmental concern, personal and social norms, and perceive source separation to be less difficult. Furthermore, the results support the notion that after the adoption of EMS at the workplace, source separation at work spills over into source separation in the household. The potential implications for environmental management systems are discussed.

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“…A spill-over effect has been demonstrated between source separation of waste in the workplace and recycling more at home (Andersson, Eriksson et al 2012). A recent Swedish study (Andersson et al 2012) has shown that a single behaviour -source separation -can spill over between different settings: those who recycled less at home increased their household recycling once an environmental management system was adopted in their workplace or spill-over can occur where activities are similar (e.g.…”

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