Environmental sustainability has been top-of-mind in recent years, especially in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, as we witnessed the (almost immediate) positive effects brought about by a reduction in travel and activity.
In parallel, considerable pressure has mounted on businesses -- not only to operate in a sustainable manner, but to go above and beyond what is required of them with their environmental actions.
In the same vein, consumers are showing greater awareness of their environmental footprint and increasingly say they prefer brands that embrace sustainability. A global study by Deloitte revealed that close to a quarter of respondents will switch to buying products from an organisation that shares their values on environmental issues. However, a frustrating paradox is hampering progress.
Despite growing positive attitudes, few consumers are following through with their actions. An obvious case in point is the stagnation of recycling rates. Eighty percent of post-consumer waste should, technically, be able to be recycled; however, global figures have languished at around nine percent.
Southeast Asia, in particular, continues to suffer from low recycling rates despite the rapid growth of consumption. In Thailand, less than a quarter of the plastics available are being recycled into valuable materials, according to the World Bank.
While poor waste management infrastructure is one of the leading contributors to the problem, especially in developing markets, inadequate and lacklustre recycling practices must also shoulder some of the blame.
Even in Singapore, a country with an established recycling infrastructure, figures from the National Environment Agency reveal that around 40% of contents found in recycling bins cannot be recycled owing to leakage from food and liquid waste, as well as e-waste and plastic foam.
Despite public awareness campaigns, misconceptions remain about what can and cannot be recycled. These behaviours must change and do so rapidly if we are to prevent plastic leakage into the ocean in a sustainable way.
As investment in improving recycling infrastructure and processes grows, the same, if not more effort must be directed to narrowing consumers' intention-action gap and promoting positive behavioural change.
Behaviour change is highly challenging. Adopting new habits requires individuals to embrace unfamiliarity and disrupt ingrained patterns of thinking. However, new research has revealed that appeals to emotional motivations, coupled with personal engagement, can have a catalysing and enduring impact when it comes to getting people to change their recycling habits.
These interventions are particularly effective in the first two stages of the behaviour change journey -- awareness and ability -- where barriers include a lack of knowledge of existing recycling programmes and the ingrained belief that recycling is too tedious.
To overcome these obstacles, more effort is needed to learn what would motivate individuals in a given community to recycle and tailor campaigns to speak to their unique context.
For instance, in our analysis of local recycling projects, we found that standard warnings highlighting the environmental impact of plastic waste were ineffective in engaging communities in Bali. Residents have been inundated with messaging about plastic pollution and have become desensitised to the issue.
On the flip side, messaging that was aligned to Bali's tight-knit, hierarchical culture was more effective. Informational letters carrying stamps from two important authorities -- the local government and religious adat (customary law community) -- helped to build trust and achieve greater community engagement and more consistent recycling behaviours.
In delivering tailored messages, mass communication campaigns will continue to play a critical role in raising awareness and providing legitimacy to recycling programmes. These campaigns lay the foundations, but alone they are not sufficient to create real change.
To drive home the message and push consumers to act, personalised bottom-up interactions are also needed. Put simply, people must feel that these outreach programmes are supporting them to make the change and without much hassle.
One effective approach involves follow-ups on progress or regular opportunities for people to ask questions and have them answered.
While excitement is often focused on the innovative technologies and materials that are transforming global plastic supply chains, it is crucial to remember the role of individuals and households in enabling large-scale societal transformation.
We will only see success if investment in improving the system is supported by a commitment -- from governments, investors and corporations -- to shift individual practices.
Behaviour change is not a "nice to have", it is integral to making the economics of recycling work, and it does not have to come at a loss. In fact, our earlier joint study revealed that investment in recycling behaviour in emerging economies can have a quantifiable return on investment and presents a major -- and often missed -- opportunity to improve the success rates of sustainability initiatives.
There are endless opportunities to develop creative campaigns and clever apps to encourage consumer recycling, but sometimes the simplest approach -- like a conversation -- is the most effective.
Ellen Martin is the director of Impact and Insights at The Circulate Initiative, and Jeremy Douglas is the director of partnerships of Delterra.