Behaviour change is vital to increasing recycling rates

With all eyes turning to Sharm el-Sheikh for COP27, policymakers and business leaders should have waste management and recycling high on their agenda. 

Waste is the third largest source of human-caused methane emissions, which have 80 times the global warming effect of carbon dioxide.

To tackle this, it’s important to take a holistic approach. We at Delterra have spent several years piloting waste management improvement programs in Argentina and Indonesia. We found many organisations were simply coming up with solutions along the value chain, such as PET bottle recycling. By contrast, our projects on the ground seek to transform entire waste and recycling systems.

We believe this approach is critical to achieve real impact and lasting change, and it should be replicated worldwide – including here in the UK. While the global demand for recycled materials is increasing, the supply still has a long way to go, because the systems that produce it are broken or non-existent.

The easiest way to increase this supply of recycled material is to increase the amount of households and businesses that are recycling. Unfortunately the recycling rate in the UK is stalling and, during the pandemic, recycling rates fell in all UK countries except Wales. We need much greater ambition and collective action, since recycling rates need to increase by almost 50% if we’re to hit our target of 65% by 2035.

A successful approach for improving recycling rates is to focus on behaviour change. Persuading businesses and households to separate recyclables, organics and waste greatly increases the chance these materials will be recycled. In order for recycling to work, materials need to be separated, and the cleanest, easiest, most cost-effective way of doing that is having people do it at home or work, and ensuring the collection of those materials also happens as separate streams.

Businesses and governments often seek out technological solutions to boost recycling, such as mechanical separation with optical sensors, magnets, air pressure, etc. While effective, the cost of this equipment – both in purchasing and maintaining – is often prohibitive for most countries. Our research has found changing behaviour is up to 80% cheaper than these technological solutions.

So where are businesses and governments to start? Our recommendation is to take a human-centred design approach. This starts with conducting research into why people are failing to recycle and understanding the wider values that underpin their communities.

For example, in the mid-sized Argentinian city of Olavarría, our team discovered strong values and pride in being a modern city, which could be invoked to counteract cultural resistance to change. They also found most non-recyclers are open to recycling and just need support. This finding enabled the team to position recycling not as an environmental initiative, but rather as a continuation of recent municipal improvements, like digitally metered parking and LED lights in the park.

This approach could be mirrored in the UK, where large numbers of people still don’t recycle properly, even though there’s a sophisticated infrastructure in much of the country. The reasons behind a lack of engagement on a regional and community level need to be explored, to create solutions that are universally true but culturally unique.

The private sector also has a crucial role to play in encouraging the right consumer behaviour. In Olavarría, we used local shops to help promote awareness of our recycling program. We put up posters and educated retail staff, so they could answer customer questions. We also organised compost bin giveaways and provided retailers with reusable program bags to give to customers. While many big retailers in the UK are keen to show their green credentials when it comes to promoting recycling, they can be doing much more.

Businesses – especially food producers and retailers – are both agents of change and agents in need of change. They can have major influence on suppliers by setting an example for and even mandating stronger zero waste targets. Our work shows they can step up in three principal ways.

1. The flow of waste should be cut at source by reducing single-use packaging, redesigning packaging for recyclability, and creating effective deposit and reuse schemes. Delterra is working with companies to develop these strategies through our plastic IQ program. In the UK, conversations on these topics have been ongoing for a while, but progress has been slow. For example, a long-promised deposit return scheme for plastic bottles in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will not come into effect until late 2024 at the earliest. There needs to be much greater urgency.
2. Retailers and food producers can play an important role in tackling climate change. organic waste – such as food – that is mixed in with other waste and sent to landfill will produce methane emissions. By separating organics from recyclables and refuse, companies can increase the likelihood that organics will be diverted from landfill and treated in a way that reduces their GHG emissions and creates a viable offtake market, such as compost or biogas. Retailers could even go a step further by replacing more on-site single-use plastics (such as in on-site cafés or restaurants) with compostable materials and working with a haulier and industrial composter that can properly process those materials.
3. Thirdly, business can reduce their impact on overworked waste systems. In Argentina, we have struggled with businesses using residential waste collection services, putting additional strain on them. That’s why we are now designing bespoke waste services for big corporate generators. This is something that all large retailers and food producers should consider, especially in locations where waste management services are stretched, such as in parts of the UK.

As a caveat, this doesn’t mean businesses should also set up their own recyclable collection points for consumers, potentially in partnership with brands. It’s too confusing. Consumers need a single, consistent source of recycling information and streamlined services. Supermarkets should work with local government recycling programs to synchronise all waste services.

With recyclable material in short supply and global recycling rates languishing, establishing good recycling systems is more important than ever. Food companies and retailers must step up. While each has their own unique challenges, it’s imperative that they collaborate across territories, share knowledge and scale up the solutions we’ve already proven to work.

The window in which we can act on the climate emergency is rapidly closing. Recycling systems are vital in the race to cut emissions in time.