Abstract
Several theories and case studies have shown that information has little or no direct influence on waste sorting behavior. However, it is often suggested that information plays a vital role by indirectly influencing behavior. This contribution sheds light on how instructive information influences users of a recycling scheme in terms of perception, knowledge and waste sorting behavior. The study was performed as a case study on a student population in a medium-sized city in Sweden. An intervention in the form of modified information that was provided to the users was studied. This information was instructive in nature and adapted to the participants’ needs using the Recycling Behavior Transition procedure, where the users are involved in the development and modification of recycling schemes. New information was designed after investigating how the participants perceived the original information on correct waste sorting, as well as ascertaining their preferred channel for providing the information. Pick analyses and surveys were conducted before and after providing the user-adapted information. The results indicated a trend towards correct participation in the recycling scheme. These results are also discussed in the theoretical context of the Motivation-Opportunity-Ability-Behavior model. The study shows that user-adapted, instructive information can have a significant influence on people’s knowledge of correct waste separation and their overall perception of information.
Highlights
Efforts that are made by citizens to separate household waste into different fractions, such as plastics, metal and glass, play a vital role in many municipal recycling schemes
All other waste was analyzed
Modified instructive information on how to participate in the local recycling scheme was designed based on the Recycling Behavior Transition (RBT) procedure [16]
Summary
Efforts that are made by citizens to separate household waste into different fractions, such as plastics, metal and glass, play a vital role in many municipal recycling schemes. After buying and using a product, the waste management process begins with the user’s decision on how to dispose of it. Many recycling schemes, including those in Sweden, require households to sort their waste at the source, i.e., in the household. The recycling schemes will only receive separated waste streams if people participate in waste sorting properly. If this is done, it enables the waste management facilities to efficiently recover and recycle different materials that can be reintroduced into the production process and replace virgin materials. As opposed to the technical parts of waste management systems, it is often difficult to attain high rates of participation in waste sorting across societies [1]
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