Is it mission impossible to change people’s behaviour towards waste?

When the challenges in recycling and waste management are discussed, one that frequently tops the ranks is people’s behaviour. Ranging from apathy in an approach to recycling, to passionate zero-waste advocates, most of the public is neither here nor there. It depends where they live, what recycling facilities and services are available and their general lifestyles. There’s little consistency, and people blame everything from the complexity of recycling to the many types of packaging available.

It’s true that these are challenges that impact recycling rates and the industry is working hard to deliver solutions. But the effort can’t be one sided. Will the public change their behaviour and become more diligent in their recycling efforts because collections are simpler? Will they really opt for refillable containers just because they’re offered in the local store? ?

Why it takes more than education to get action

The historic approach to improve recycling has been to try to educate people. The thinking being that if people realise the dire situation that we find ourselves in, in terms of climate change, it will make them change their buying, use and waste habits. Unfortunately, this hardly competes with the daily onslaught of marketing convincing people to continually buy more and that modern life should be convenient.

The recent public calls and efforts of government to simplify recycling are clear evidence of this. The message being sent is that unless recycling is made easy and more convenient, there can’t be an expectation for people to put in the effort and change their behaviour.

But that’s not the only obstacle in changing mindsets and behaviour. For people to change, they have to believe that their efforts will be worthwhile and that they will make an impact. This means that they have to believe in it.

Until very recently the majority of the global population believed that climate change activists were merely doomsayers, over-reacting because they felt passionate about the environment. Yes, the destruction of rainforests was sad, but the belief was that nature had to make way for progress. That’s simply the way it’s always been. Not that anyone actually did anything about it, nor could they if they wanted to.

Not to mention the billions spent by certain industry PR campaigns to seed doubt and disinformation and frustrate the efforts of conservationists and scientists. These campaigns have been highly effective in making people believe that the problem isn’t nearly that big or scary. And even if it is, then what possible impact can one person’s efforts have anyway? The rhetoric of doomed if you do and doomed if you don’t, hardly inspires positive action. If it doesn’t inspire action, it leads to anxiety, which is equally paralysing.

This similar argument has been used against almost every conservation effort on the planet, from poaching, to the use of pesticides, deforestation and even recycling. And the opposition doesn’t just come from big industry. Even conservation groups can create doubt when they lose sight of the bigger picture.

Though their intentions may be to go after the ideal solution, by saying recycling is ineffective and should be abandoned is misleading. Even if plastic production (which is what’s proposed) is stopped today, the billions of tonnes of plastic waste that already exist can only be eliminated if they’re recycled or repurposed into other useful commodities. To say people should stop recycling is counterproductive for everyone. All it does is hinder efforts to improve the situation by making people believe that they shouldn’t bother to change.

Will nature help get people to change?

With collective global efforts people are starting to realise that resources are running out. Clean water, clean air, and soil healthy enough to grow food is not guaranteed. Add in increasingly extreme weather events that are becoming more frequent. Finally, people are starting to pay attention.

The important thing is that when they ask: “What can we do that will have a real impact?” The resource management industry needs to have at least some of the answers, as well as the systems in place to support what’s needed. We’re getting there. Perhaps we need to shout louder about our successes!

A recent industry article suggests that there may be strategies that could make an impact, but even it admits that they only work some of the time, and rarely do they all work all of the time. Could the best approach be a multi-faceted consumer waste management strategies and will it be practical to implement? Some ideas are:

Prompt people to act at a specific place or time using visual marketing on recycling bins. An example is artistic wire bins in the shape of mammals on beaches meant to inspire people to pick up plastic found on beaches. These are visual reminders of the impact of plastic waste and the need to take action. The challenge is that after some time people stop seeing the messaging because it’s no longer eye catching or new, or if there isn’t a bin where they need it, they simply revert to old habits.

Another approach is the proverbial carrot or stick which is usually tied to legislation and impacts industries more than individuals. Part of the plastics problem is that it’s often cheaper to produce virgin plastic than it is to recycle. It’s hoped that introducing systems such as EPR that it will discourage new plastic production while generating funds for recycling. Because no one likes taxes or fines, it’s one of the few effective ways to get industries to change.

What will be the tipping point?

While most of us know that there’s an urgent need to accelerate all efforts, this is tempered by the realisation that it needs to be a collective effort. The waste industry can support public education, incentivise collections, even implement clever marketing campaigns. We can ask people to change, but we can’t make them change. Maybe the best we can do is to help them realise what’s in it for them and ask for their help in being part of the solution.