Social factors influencing household waste separation: A literature review on good practices to improve the recycling performance of urban areas

Abstract

As population density, urbanization and industrialization continue to increase, so do quantities of global urban waste worldwide. Still, compact urban areas record low-performing rates of recyclables. Improving the recycling performance in order to recover qualitative materials, save resources and keep waste out of landfills belongs to the pressing challenges of our time. Moving towards a circular economy requires active public participation in waste management and pre-sorting of wastes at home. In the process of establishing and improving well-performing municipal solid waste management systems (MSWMS) the understanding of fundamental social factors to influence household behaviour is commonly underestimated but of utmost importance. Compiling theory and good practices from cities globally, this paper intends to support practitioners and policy makers from different backgrounds to design future strategies and interventions to motivate household waste separation behaviour. By means of an extensive literature review a general overview of the main social factors influencing household recycling behaviour is given and key motivation drivers for behavioural change are identified. Followed by a presentation of international good practices and recommendations for urban areas, special attention was given to high-density contexts. The results in combination are supposed to serve as a resource for practitioners and as a basis to develop further studies focusing on the improvement of recycling behaviour in defined urban areas and tailored to the local situation. • Circular economy models require public participation in waste management. • Understanding social factors influencing household behaviour is of utmost importance. • Tailoring waste management system to local context and background is a key point. • Public education and specific communication highly contribute to improve recycling. • Collaboration and learning from experiences of compact cities worldwide is encouraged.