Rebuilding Confidence in Recycling
November 21, 2024
We mobilize people, data, and solutions across the value chain to reduce waste and our impact on the environment while also unlocking economic benefits.
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77%
believe recycling makes a difference and has a positive impact.
81% say we are not doing enough as a society to combat wastefulness.
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76%
of residential recyclables are lost to trash in homes.
Only 43% of U.S. households actively participate in a local recycling program.
Skepticism by Generation
I’m skeptical that the recycling I put on the curb actually gets
recycled
I’m pretty sure the trash collector puts the recycling in the same truck with regular trash
Keep America Beautiful; Research on Consumer Attitudes & Behaviors Toward Recycling; October 2016; US gen pop (n=1000)
Skepticism in New York
"Material I separate at home for recycling is actually ending up in the landfill."
2020 – 2022 Ipsos Surveys. Technical Report.
Skepticism is Growing
Not Very or Not At All:
Shelton Group, Recycling Pulse (n= 1000)
Younger Residents Have Unmet Needs
Younger citizens expressed a greater gap in knowledge as well as a desire to fill that gap
BIPOC Residents Have Unmet Needs
BIPOC citizens expressed a greater gap in knowledge as well as a desire to fill that gap
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The Recycling Partnership is a team of experts, practitioners, and thought leaders with real-world experience who are delivering on our mission of building a better recycling system.
Who We Are
Our Vision
A future where the burden of waste has been transformed into a beneficial resource.
Our Purpose
Protecting natural resources, building more sustainable communities, and ensuring that everyone who wants to recycle can recycle is at the heart of everything that we do.
Our Mission
Our mission is to build a better recycling system, one that delivers the economic and environmental benefits our communities and the hundreds of thousands of people who work throughout the recycling industry deserve.
Five Requirements of an Effective Recycling System
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All packaging needs to be designed for recyclability.
All households need access to recycling in their home.
Residents need to fully engage in recycling.
Recycling facilities need to effectively process the material.
Recycling facilities need sufficient end markets.
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Restore Confidence
Advance Equitable Solutions
Increase Participation & Capture
Decrease Contamination
Driving measurable improvement in residential recycling behavior with evidence-backed solutions.
The Center for Sustainable Behavior & Impact
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Liz & Dave
Ithaca
“The first Earth Day was a seminal day in my life in a lot of ways. I was in the junior high and we all walked up the hill to the high school.”
Recycling relates to farmers’ markets, solar, community relationships.
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Rida
Ithaca
“The five cent deposit packages– I just recycle them. I just do the convenient thing.”
Rida struggles to select packages and products that she feels are better options.
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5 Types of Recyclers | Eco Activators (25%) | Committed Followers (24%) | Discouraged Self-Doubters (18%) | Detached Abiders (16%) | Conflicted, Overwhelmed (16%) |
Segment Tendencies �(but not exclusives) | 45+ yo, higher income & education, larger home, more Asian, fewer Black | 45+ yo, higher income, average race/ethnicity mix | 18-64 yo, lower income & education, smaller household, more Black | 45+ yo, small households, �more conservative | 18-64 yo, mid-upper income, larger household, more Hispanic, Black, Asian |
Inclinations | Social, Emotional | Private, Practical | Private, Practical | Private, Emotional | Social, Emotional |
2 groups | MORE DEDICATED | LESS DEDICATED | |||
Feelings about recycling | Passionate Proud Hopeful Confident Connected | Importance Responsibility Confident Intentional Community | Guilt Worry Confused Doubt selves, process Resent no support | Guilt Unsure, confused Feel required Doubt benefits Resent non-recyclers | Passionate Judged Anxious Too much effort Resent warnings, fines |
Behaviors around recycling | • Research and teach • Social • Overcome issues | • Organized • Consistent • Productive | • Defer to labels (pckg, bin)�• Inconvenience = barrier • Likely new to recycling • Recycle limited items | • Organized • Defer to gov, friends, not packaging or tech • Low effort, interaction | • Research, teach others • Defer to digital, friends • Don’t go out of the way |
Motivations�around recycling Avoiding | to make a difference, protect the planet, and having a system FOOLISHNESS | by values, believe recycling is the right thing to do. They create solutions. WRONG | by reducing waste but doubt their knowledge and the importance of recycling. WRONG | doing their civic duty to their community is important, personal gain, sunk cost (paid for) DISAPPOINTMENT | by hope for helping the planet and self, being more organized, having support and assurances FOOLISHNESS |
12% don’t recycle and are distributed across the segments.
Panel Discussion
Gary Feinland
Waste Reduction and Recycling Outreach Section Supervisor
NYSDEC - Region 3
Lydia Keenan
Manager of Solutions Adoption
Center for Sustainable Behavior and Impact
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Alec Cooley
Senior Advisor
Busch Systems
EPR for Packaging Laws have Passed �(ME, OR, CO, CA, ME)
EPR for Packaging Legislative Activity in 2023 Introduced or Expected
New Policy Landscape
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U.S. Policy Landscape: Each State Has Different Needs, But Plenty of Work to be Done
Implementation Activities | California | Colorado | Maine | Oregon |
Scope | Improvements | 100% | 100% | Improvements |
Reduction and Reuse | ● | ● | ● | ● |
Recyclability Determination | ● | ● | ● | ● |
New Access | ● | ● | ● | ● |
Education and Outreach | ● | ● | ● | ● |
MRF Improvements | ● | ● | ● | ● |
Need for Improved Data and Measurement | ● | ● | ● | ● |
Significant need
Need to be determined
Minor need
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Recycling Confidence Index
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Recycling is a strongly felt social good.�“It’s good for the planet, it’s good for everybody.” — Focus Group Participant
Half believe items they recycle are made into new things. �Significant number of people express confidence in their own programs.
Opportunity to improve difficulty of recycling. �By making it easier, not just by saying it is easy.
Highest levels of confidence exist where people receive communications and support. �This includes convenient bins, recycling knowledge and information, and motivational messages.
Increased communication and transparency around recycling outcomes can improve trust.
“Just let us know that it’s working. I don’t know if it’s by percentages or if it’s pictures but let us know… if it paid off.” — Focus Group Participant
PROMISE
SUPPORT
LIVED EXPERIENCE
Segmenting Respondents into Predictive Groupings
Categories of inquiry that shape segmentation
Need:
requirements for participation and confidence in recycling.
Psychographic:
values, interests, lifestyle and personality characteristics.
Behavioral:
tendencies, habits, products and service usage.
Demographic:
age, race, religion, gender, family size, ethnicity, income, education.
Segmentation
What we found out is…
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There’s a Spectrum of Recyclers
…that we need to support.
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Segmentation
Overview
Recyclers We All Know
ECO
ACTIVATORS
25%
COMMITTED FOLLOWERS
24%
DISCOURAGED
SELF-DOUBTERS
18%
DETACHED
ABIDERS
16%
CONFLICTED & OVERWHELMED
16%
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LESS DEDICATED
MORE DEDICATED
MOVEABLE MIDDLE
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Which motivational message was most successful in driving behavior change?
LOGICAL
EMPATHETIC
EMOTIONAL
POLL:
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
How Can We Reach Our Audience?
Younger citizens are largely dependent on digital devices, like smartphones.
Young BIPOC citizens live in an especially digital world.
Younger citizens and BIPOC populations can be best reached through digital means