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

Farzaneh Amir Kavei,Laura Savoldi

doi:10.3390/su131910846

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.

Highlights

Waste management is a global issue which with the universal increasing trend of consumption, urbanisation and population growth is expected to worsen in the coming years [1]
Waste sorting at the source, if performed inside dwellings and unlike methods applied in waste management facilities, requires no sophisticated machinery and manpower, and constitutes a very crucial step in MSW management
The main focus was examining the importance of the recycling habits inside our sample in relation to the quality of on-pack recycling labels, independently from other packaging factors, and analysing the impact of increasing their quality on waste segregation from the point of view of an Italian sample

Summary

Introduction

Waste management is a global issue which with the universal increasing trend of consumption, urbanisation and population growth is expected to worsen in the coming years [1]. China has been the most important importer of recyclable waste [4,5] and the main trade partner of EU for plastic waste [5], but in 2017 the country announced its new strategy to ban the import of some classes of waste including plastic, paper, and metal. This change has forced the world, especially Europe, to develop new intra and extra-EU waste destinations and markets [5] and adapt new measures and management programs. Together with Germany, Luxemburg, Ireland, and France had packaging waste per capita higher than the European mean value [6]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion