Factors Influencing Household Recycling Behavior

TLDR

The study used telephone interviews with 221 adults in a suburban city that had recently started a curbside recycling program to investigate factors that encourage or deter household recycling. About 40% of participants used curbside recycling, and only a few specific demographic, attitude, and recycling‑related behavioral variables predicted participation; general environmental attitudes, behaviors, and most demographics were not predictive, and factor analysis revealed no overarching factor linking environmental attitudes and behaviors. The study discusses implications for promoting curbside recycling.

Abstract

To investigate factors encouraging or deterring recycling, telephone interviews were used to study recycling behavior, attitudes, and knowledge of 221 randomly selected adults in a suburban city that had begun a citywide curbside recycling program within the past year. Approximately 40% reported participation in the curbside recycling program, and nearly 20% more claimed that their household had been recycling in other ways. Most demographic variables did not predict participation in the curbside recycling program, nor did general environmental attitudes and behaviors, though simple conservation knowledge did. The main significant predictors of curbside recycling were a few demographic variables, attitudes, and behavioral variables that pertained specifically to recycling. As predicted, factor analyses showed that there was no general factor underlying (a) various environmental attitudes and (b) various environmental behaviors, all of which might seem on an a priori basis to be related. Implications of the findings for understanding and promoting curbside recycling are discussed.