Exploring Citizens’ Zero-Waste Journeys Through Practice Theory: Empirical Investigation and Public Policy Implications

Abstract

To confront considerable increases in household waste, public authorities encourage citizens to adopt zero waste. However, public policies rely mostly on individual “responsibilization,” which presents an obstacle to effective behavioral conversion. Although academic literature has explored citizens’ commitment to zero waste, it has focused mainly on intentions to act rather than on actual behavior. Using practice theory, the current research analyzes interview data from 24 participants in a local zero-waste action program to uncover how practices emerge, develop, are articulated, and become stabilized throughout participants’ zero-waste journeys. The implementation of these practices (i.e., routinized behaviors) depends not only on the specific components related to each practice (i.e., meanings, competences, and material arrangements) but also on existing relationships that articulate them within bundles and constellations of practices. To facilitate the reduction and elimination of waste, public authorities should target interventions in citizens’ zero-waste journeys that support the formation of new habits.