Psychology of Recycling
Why we do it
There are many phenomena that explain some of our motivations in choosing to recycle, the simplest being the rewards we get from it. Some places, especially Germany and Norway, find recycling program success by offering a refund when you deposit recyclable items. The immediate gratification of the reward conditions our brain into forming the habit. “Gamification” of recycling can also achieve this with recycling rewards apps and the like. Similarly, we get the “warm glow” effect from recycling because we feel like we did something good for society. However, this can be a detriment as many individuals use it to morally excuse over-consumption of single-use plastics by increasing their recycling instead of changing their purchasing behavior. It can also lead to aspirational recycling of items that shouldn’t be recycled, which just contaminates recyclable materials and worsens the problem. On the other hand, utilizing negative reinforcement, like “landfill” labels on garbage containers to encourage recycling actually increases aspirational recycling as well.
Extrinsic factors like group behavior also have a role. If recycling and sustainable actions are reinforced with things like community led programs and public recycling stations, individuals will conform to group behavior. The closer the group, the greater the effect, so this is best implemented in small communities. Studies support social modelling, the process where individuals learn behaviors through observing others, as being significantly effective in influencing recycling behavior.
Why we don’t
The other side of group behavior is the lack of accountability within our own homes, reducing the effects. The main factor, however, is the inconvenience of sorting and recycling. The theory of planned behavior explains an individual’s willingness to perform a behavior. When this willingness is outweighed by the inconvenience or time and financial cost, individuals will choose not to perform the behavior without the influence of other factors. The temporal construction theory, which explains that short term motivations typically often interfere with long-term plans, also supports the importance of convenience in these decisions, thus more immediate recycling options are more effective. In a similar way, affordance is our tendency to rely on impulses from objects subconsciously telling us what to do with them. For example, disposal sorting bins with openings shaped like the items they’re intended for can help to direct our impulses and make recycling more unconsciously convenient, thus increasing proper recycling. On the other hand, items we mentally label as garbage because of damage, like a crushed soda can, are more often placed in the waste bin because of affordance.
Why it matters
Recycling initiatives that seem helpful, like landfill labels, can actually have adverse effects. If we want to effectively increase recycling rates, it’s important to understand how people think about recycling and adapt to their behavior. This is crucial in designing public programs and legislation to keep recyclable items out of the landfill.
Sources
5.6 Deciding to Recycle: A Psychological Perspective – Environmental ScienceBites Volume 2
The Strange Psychology of Recycling: Why We Don’t and How We Could | SO Recycle
The Psychology of Recycling: What Motivates People to Return
Recycling Isn’t Virtuous; It’s Making Things Worse | Psychology Today
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