Pro-Environmental Behavior and Recycling: Literature Review and Policy Considerations (original) (raw)

Investigation of Attitudes towards Solid Waste and Recycling from a Social Perspective

Türk Akademik Yayınlar Dergisi (TAY Journal), 2023

Today, where the amount of consumption is increasing rapidly, waste management, which gains importance as recycling, recovery and reuse, is important how it is evaluated by the individuals who make up the social structure. Based on this idea, it was aimed to determine the attitudes of individuals from different sociocultural and socioeconomic levels towards solid waste and recycling in terms of various variables and to bring a social perspective to this issue. Scanning model was used in the research. "Attitude Scale Towards Solid Waste and Recycling" was used as a data collection tool. The sample of the research consists of 558 participants from different socioeconomic and sociocultural structures in line with the principle of voluntary participation. As a result of the research, it is seen that the attitudes of the participants towards solid waste and recycling are at a high level. In addition, it has been determined that various variables have an effect on the attitudes of the participants towards solid waste and recycling. Solid waste and recycling are subjects related to every aspect of life. From this point of view, it should be ensured that all individuals in the society develop their knowledge, behaviors and attitudes about solid waste and recycling.

Citizens' attitude to reuse of municipal solid waste: a practical application

Resources Conservation and Recycling, 2001

The aim of this article is to analyze the opinion of the citizens of Gijon who use the services of a cleaning firm (EMULSA) about the possible implementation of a more complex management of municipal solid waste in this city. We will study the citizens' views about environmental problems caused by municipal solid waste. We analyze different matters related to the functions of EMULSA and the citizens' attitudes to a separate collection of paper, cardboard, glass and batteries. A main goal of this article is to study if the knowledge about damage caused on the natural environment by municipal solid waste and the availability of special containers influences citizen's attitudes.

Citizens' Perceptions in Participating in Recycling and Circular Processes

12th International Scientific Conference on Energy and Climate Change, 2019

Recycling and composting are perceived as means to reduce urban waste that end up in landfills, preserve natural and manmade resources, reduce methane emissions from landfills and promote circular economy. Although recycling has gained social acceptance during the last decades in most parts of the world, there are still people who do not participate in the recycling process, thus not contributing to the solution of problems, but persisting on their conservation. There have been several studies that try to identify the forces that drive or drive not people to recycling, but none has posed yet the research question which processes can encourage people in Greece to participate more in circular processes. The aim of this study has been to identify the reasons why people in the region of Attica recycle or not and to pinpoint the recycling policies that would encourage them to recycle and compost more. So as to address this question, statistical analysis has been made to the results of an online survey on the issue. Criteria have also been set that concern the relationship of recycling with sustainability, which have been assessed by citizens in the survey. Through the quantification of indicators that concern certain recycling policies and the weighting factors that have resulted by citizens, multicriteria analysis has been made (using Multi Attribute Utility Theory), so as to indicate the optimum recycling process for the region of Attica. Conclusions are drawn on circular policies that should be put forward, so as to result in more people participating in them.

Why recycle? A comparison of recycling motivations in four communities

Environmental Management, 1992

Four Iltinois communities with different sociodemographic compositions and at various stages of planning for solid waste management were surveyed to determine the influence of sociodemographic variables and planning stages on the factors that motivate recycling behavior. A factor analysis of importance ratings of reasons for recycling and for not recycling yielded five factors interpreted as altruism, personal inconvenience, social influences, economic incentives, and household storage. The four communities were shown to be significantly different in multivariate analyses of the five motivational factors. However, attempts to explain these community differences with regression analyses, which predicted the motivational factors with dummy codes for planning stages, a measure of self-reported recycling behavior, and sociodemographic measures were unsatisfactory. Contrary to expectation, the solid waste management planning stages of the cities (curbside pickup, recycling dropoff center, and planning in progress) contributed only very slightly to the prediction of motivational factors for recycling. Community differences were better explained by different underlying motivational structures among the four communities. Altruistic reasons for recycling (e.g., conserving resources) composed the only factor which was similar across the four communities. This factor was also perceived to be the most important reason for recycling by respondents from all four communities. The results of the study supported the notion that convenient, voluntary recycling programs that rely on environmental concern and conscience for motivation are useful approaches to reducing waste.

Social Responsibility and Ecological Behaviors towards Selective Waste Collection

Materiale Plastice

The selective collection of plastic, paper, glass and metal waste represents a desirable behavior in any civilized community with environmental concerns. The collection and recovery of recyclable materials is also a concern for the city of Arad, the purpose of this study being that of identifying the strengths and weaknesses of selective waste collection at the level of this urban community. Starting from the premise that responsible behavior in terms of waste and its collection is an important factor in the ecological development of a community, the present article aims to explore the local realities in this regard, to diagnose the state of things, as it is at present, in the city of Arad. We have highlighted and recorded the population�s existing mentalities and perceptions, the citizens� expectations from the local authorities, in order to provide optimal intervention opportunities to increase control for a better management of selective collection.

Urban Waste Recycling Behavior: Antecedents of Participation in a Selective Collection Program

Environmental Management, 2002

The aim of this study is to analyze the antecedents of urban waste recycling behavior. To achieve this goal, a concrete urban waste management program was chosen. The study focuses on the Selective Collection Program (SCP) in Zaragoza, a medium-sized city in northeastern Spain. The research starts with a conceptual model in which the variables that potentially affect recycling behavior can be classified into two groups: incentives and barriers. Moreover, the sociode-mographic characteristics of the individuals are included in our study. Given that the proposed model requires specification of latent variables or constructs, the analysis is based on the Structural Equation Models (SEM) methodology. The results revealed that environmental awareness, knowledge of the environmental impact of urban waste, and the positive perception of management by local government exercise a positive effect on individual recycling behavior, while perceived personal difficulties (space and time availability) and distance to and from the container have a negative effect. As regards sociodemographic variables, this study found that annual family income sustains a negative relationship with recycling behavior, while age maintains a positive one. The results obtained clearly show the important role that the public authorities play, especially municipal governments, in achieving the waste recycling objectives established in accordance with international legislation.

EVALUATING ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOR TOWARDS SELECTIVE COLLECTION OF WASTE IN CLUJ-NAPOCA CITY, ROMANIA

Involvement of waste generators in selective collection of waste is one of the issues that need to be tackled within a waste management system. The questionnaire survey method is often used in investigating the behaviour, the perception, the knowledge and the attitude of population regarding different environmental issues. In this case, the questionnaire survey method is used in improving waste management process at local level. In Cluj-Napoca, like in other Romanian cities, there is little involvement in waste management process and selective collection of waste at source. This is the issue that the paper is addressing through an online survey questionnaire applied on a sample of 425 persons living in Cluj-Napoca. The questions refer to three main aspects: degree of awareness regarding selective collection of waste at source, the accessibility of the service, and present and future personal behaviour in this sector. The answers reveal that the majority of the respondents are aware of the importance of collective selection of waste, a percent of more than 44% of them state they collect waste selectively and they highlight strengths but also weaknesses of the existing system. The chi square test identified a significant influence of age and education of the respondents and the declared behaviour on selective collection of waste and their opinion on organization of the system by public authorities. Moreover, the identified aspects can be the base of the decision making process related to waste management planning, mainly referring to selective collection of waste.

Society and Household Behavior, Culture and Attitudes & Their Role in Solid Waste Management

To reduce the amount of waste entering landfills, to mitigate the environmental problems and impacts due to solid waste generation and to protect the global goods and services, policymakers and governments have implemented a very large number of solid waste management (SWM) schemes and programs, particularly recycling and waste reduction programs such as source reduction, curbside recycling and drop-off recycling programs and a lot of other programs. The success of a solidwaste management program largely depends on household participation, this participation depend on the attitudes and behaviors of the society in a very large-scale. A better understanding of entire society behavior and attitudes of individuals will help decision makers to design and improve the effectiveness of solid waste management policies.

Social Surveys about Solid Waste Management within Higher Education Institutes: A Comparison

Solid waste mismanagement is a social burden that requires the introduction of reliable public policies, including recycling principles and technological facilities. However, the development of recycling plans is a real issue for municipal governments, since it involves psychological and cultural factors, both in developed and developing countries. Questionnaire survey is an important tool for evaluating which solid waste management policy is suited for each specific study area, involving citizens and stakeholders. The aim of this paper is to evaluate what approach should be applied for social surveys in higher education institutes, comparing developing and developed countries. Italy is the developed country analyzed, where two universities in different cities are compared, while La Paz (Bolivia) is the emerging reality considered. The research conducted in La Paz led us to understand that, although recycling rates are low (about 8%), many students (56.96%) separate up to half of the waste produced at home. At the same time, about 53% of those interviewed do not know the recycling practices implemented by the informal sector which is the one that constantly act for improving the recycling rates of the city. Low technological acceptance is instead underlined in the high income country, since there is a common negative opinion concerning the introduction of landfills and incinerators near residential areas (49% disagree). A comparison of the methodologies adopted for the two case studies is introduced whereas investigations results are presented. Sustainability 2017, 9, 391 2 of 17 the low financial sustainability, lack of public awareness, and lack of reliable polices [9-13]. Selective collection and optimization of waste flux are necessary for achieving an effective reduction of waste and environmental impacts . To that purpose, users' and households' inclusion in recycling activities, who contribute constantly to the production of, is essential and recommended [15] as a high-quality recycling service is a function of a strong community perception of MSW practices . Indeed, the introduction of recycling policies is a real public issue and includes psychological and cultural factors [18] besides environmental, climatic, and economic variables .

A multilevel perspective to explain recycling behaviour in communities

Journal of Environmental Management, 2015

Previous research on the motivation for environmentally responsible behaviour has focused mainly on individual variables, rather than organizational or collective variables. Therefore, the results of those studies are hardly applicable to environmental management. This study considers individual, collective, and organizational variables together that contribute to the management of environmental waste. The main aim is to identify, through the development of a multilevel model, those predictive variables of recycling behaviour that help organizations to increase the recycling rates in their communities. Individual (age, gender, educational level, self-efficacy with respect to residential recycling, individual recycling behaviour), organizational (satisfaction with the quality of the service provided by a recycling company), and collective (community recycling rates, number of inhabitants, community efficacy beliefs) motivational factors relevant to recycling behaviour were analysed. A sample of 1501 residents from 55 localities was surveyed. The results of multilevel analyses indicated that there was significant variability within and between localities. Interactions between variables at the level of the individual (e.g. satisfaction with service quality) and variables at the level of the collective (e.g. community efficacy) predicted recycling behaviour in localities with low and high community recycling rates and large and small populations. The interactions showed that the relationship between self-efficacy and recycling is stronger in localities with weak community efficacy beliefs than in communities with strong beliefs. The findings show that the relationship between satisfaction with service quality and recycling behaviour is stronger in localities with strong community efficacy beliefs than in communities with weaker beliefs and a smaller population. The results are discussed accordingly in relation to theory and possible contribution to waste management. Those findings may be incorporated in national and international environmental policies in order to promote environmentally responsible behaviour in citizenship.