Understanding consumer behaviour is crucial for effectively promoting recycling across various environments — at home, work, or school. Despite its importance for environmental sustainability, many people struggle to adopt consistent recycling habits.
By examining and understanding the psychological factors that influence recycling behaviour, we can design initiatives that encourage greater participation, helping create a more sustainable future for Africa’s seas and its people.
At SST, we have considered some key behavioural traits that influence the way people think about and approach recycling. We have used this information and the learnings around it, alongside detailed research and stakeholder engagements, to create interventions and solutions that speak to the needs of these individuals.
Changing Social Norms through the Power of Community Influence
People often look to their peers when deciding how to act. When recycling is viewed as a community norm, individuals are more likely to engage in it. Research indicates that the visibility of recycling efforts in a community significantly boosts participation.
Initiatives like Operation Clean Spot, launched by SST in 2021, aim to cultivate this norm by actively involving businesses, schools, and communities in litter prevention and recycling. To date, the initiative has witnessed more than 46 000 kg of trash collected and over 200 sites cleaned in South Africa.
SST is expanding Operation Clean Spot to South African coastal cities such as Cape Town and Durban as well as into the rest of the continent, working alongside multi-lateral organisations to combat marine pollution and promote a sustainable Blue Economy.
Behavioural Economics: Do Financial Incentives Drive People to Recycle?
Economic motivations can also influence recycling behaviour. Deposit-return schemes, where consumers earn money for returning bottles and cans, have shown effectiveness in boosting recycling rates. These incentives, including pay-as-you-throw, encourage households to recycle, reducing waste generation and supporting waste management efforts. However, the effectiveness of these schemes still needs to be tested in an African context, which is vastly different to developed countries.
Psychological Barriers: Aligning Actions with Beliefs
When individuals believe in or value the importance of recycling but fail to act accordingly, they experience a psychological discomfort that can drive behavioural change. SST research shows that children only experience a shift in perception after multiple interventions.
Our Munch-on-the-Move initiative educates learners on sorting waste with engaging activities that highlight different waste components. Through a litter audit and various qualitative surveys over numerous interventions, learners have demonstrated a change in behaviour and attitude towards recycling, sorting waste, and identifying opportunities to reduce waste at school.
Education And Awareness: Informing Choices
Increased awareness is key to fostering positive attitudes towards recycling. Educating the public about recycling benefits and the environmental impact of waste is essential. SST offers educational resources via its e-learning platform, the African Waste Academy, which provides online training for both learners and educators.
Our recent publications, such as the Plastic-Free Seas: An Action-Focused Guide for Plastic Management in Africa guidebook, offer tangible solutions to address the continent’s plastic problem. SST’s African Network Map further serves as a reliable source of information about various stakeholders across the plastic value chain that are involved in waste management and recycling.
At SST, we recognise that providing straightforward information about what can be recycled and how to do it effectively removes barriers to participation. To facilitate this, we have launched a recycling campaign aimed at educating consumers on the process and ease of recycling and relevant resources on this topic can be accessed across our digital platforms.
Community Engagement: Building Collective Responsibility
Participating in community recycling initiatives fosters a sense of belonging and shared responsibility. Programmes that encourage group efforts leverage social dynamics to promote recycling behaviour. At SST, we pride ourselves on collaboratively building towards a thriving, sustainable future for all of Africa’s people, enabling sustainable coastal communities to create well-functioning waste management systems that help support the Blue Economy.
Understanding the psychology behind recycling is therefore essential to develop effective strategies that promote sustainable behaviours. By leveraging social norms, education, and emotional appeal, we believe we can create a culture of recycling that contributes to environmental health and a sustainable future for all.
