waste - greening household behaviour 2014

8/10/2019 WASTE - Greening Household Behaviour 2014

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BETTER POLICIES FOR BETTER

POLICY HIGHLIGHTS

Towardsgreener

households

Waste


2/4 OECDTOWARDS GREENER HOUSEHOLDS: WASTE

Changes in lifestyle, the increasing use ofdisposable materials and excessive packaging are allcontributing to a rise in waste. Waste managementis now not only a local, but also a global, problemaffecting land and water quality, as well as climate

change. Between 1980 and 2005, municipal wastegeneration in OECD countries (half of which camefrom households) increased by 2.5% every year, eventhough the number of OECD households only rose by0.8% a year. Each person in the OECD generates anaverage of 2.2 kilos of waste every day, double that ofother regions.

Questions asked to households included how theydispose of their mixed and hazardous waste andrecyclable materials; the recycling services available intheir area and whether they are charged for the wastethey produce. The responses were cross-analysed witha wide range of attitudinal and socio-economic datafor the respondent households.

Results show that while waste generation increaseswith household size, the larger the household thelower the volume of waste produced per person.Respondents living in towns/villages or rural areasproduce between 6% and 17% less waste on averagethan those in cities and suburban areas. Richerhouseholds generate more waste, but they are alsomore likely to recycle (though not enough to offsettheir greater waste generation).

Untapped potential for pay-as-you-throw waste charging

Waste and the environment

FACTFILE

19% of respondents aged between 18 and24 choose not to recycle their waste.

12% of respondents dispose of their oldelectrical equipment with their mixed waste.

12% of households throw old or unusedmedicines out with their general household waste, rather

than taking them to be safely disposed of. The figure rises

to 50% for the younger age groups in many countries.

19% of surveyed households do not know

what collection services are available for recyclables in their

area.

Analysing attitudes to waste

Personal behaviour and choices in daily life, from whatwe eat to how we get to work or heat our homes, have asignificant and growing effect on the environment. Butwhy are some households greener than others? And whatfactors motivate green household choices?

Answering these questions is vital for helping governments

design and target policies that promote greener behaviour.The OECDs Environmental Policy and Individual BehaviourChange (EPIC) survey is designed to do just that. Drawingon observations from over 12 000 respondents in 11 OECDcountries (Australia, Canada, Chile, France, Israel, Japan,Korea, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland), thislarge-scale household survey conducted in 2011 exploreswhat drives household environmental behaviour and howpolicies may affect household decisions. It focuses on fiveareas in which households have significant environmentalimpact: energy, food, transport, waste and water.

This flyer points decision makers towards ways to designwell-targeted and effective policies to green household waste

management.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Flat fee Not charged Pay-as-you-throw schemes

Don't know Charge based on household size Other


3/4 OECDTOWARDS GREENER HOUSEHOLDS: WASTE

POLICYHIGHLIGHTS

What determines green behaviour?

Waste charges. Households charged for the amount ofwaste they generate tend to throw out between 20%and 30% less than those charged a flat rate. Chargingalso encourages households to compost and to reducepackaging. A large majority of respondents indicatedcollecting refunds or reducing waste charges as amajor motivation for recycling. Yet the potential ofthese pay-as-you-throw schemes remains largely

unexploited (see figure above).

Convenience. The presence of recyclable materialcollection services reduces waste generation andincreases the amount of sorting of recyclable wastedone by households. In Canada, the Netherlands,Sweden and Switzerland, introducing door-to-doorrecycling collection seems to have helped reduce wastevolumes by between 23 and 27%. Combining pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) waste charging with waste collectionand door-to-door recycling collection could reducemixed waste generation by as much as 50%.

Environmental awareness.Concern for the

environment is the single most important factormotivating respondents to recycle in all countries exceptIsrael. Affiliation with an environmental organisationis also the single most powerful predictor for whetherrespondents used reusable shopping bags, whetherthey composted food waste, and whether they tried topurchase food items with less packaging.

Information. The fact that nearly one-fifth ofrespondent households do not seem to know whatcollection services are available for recyclables in theirarea implies that many recyclable materials are stillbeing landfilled and that better information could havean impact.

Key issues for policy makers

Expand pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) systems and ensurethat households are aware of their existence: 15% ofrespondents did not know whether they were chargedfor waste.

Use PAYT systems and recycling programmes in tandem:this can have a powerful effect on reducing household

waste.

Introduce policies to encourage retailers to use lesspackaging and households to purchase products withless packaging.

Increase the availability of drop-off centres and door-to-door collection of recyclables, and ensure householdshave clear information on the waste disposal andrecycling services available in their area.

Target specific household groups: the age groupproducing the most waste varies, but appears to bemainly the 18 to 24 age group.

Do more to increase safe disposal of hazardous waste,especially old and unused medicines.

Attitudes matter

The OECDs Environmental Policy and Individual Behaviour

Change (EPIC) surveys explore peoples attitudes to a

wide range of issues and their influence on environmental

behaviour. Their findings are important for helping

governments encourage greener behaviour by households.

For example, did you know that

Since the global financial crisis, more people now feel

that environmental issues should mainly be dealt with

by future generations?

Women are more likely to be environmentally

motivated than men?

There is an overall willingness to be green and to pay

more for environmentally-friendly choices?

Trust in government is a more powerful factor than

levels of university education in predicting whether

people believe climate change is man-made?

What motivates households to separate waste?

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Switzerland

Sweden

Spain

Netherlands

Korea

Japan

Israel

France

Chile

Canada

Australia

Percent of respondents

Beneficial forenvironment

Civic duty

Collectingrefunds orreducing wastecollectionexpenditure

Be seen as aresponsiblecitizen

Note:The responses varied between 0 (not important) and 10 (extremely important). In

this figure, only the percentage of responses that were above 5 (the midpoint) for each ofthe categories is presented.


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BETTER POLICIES FOR BETTER LIVES

For more information:

www.oecd.org/

www.oecd.org/env/consumption-innovation/

greening-household-behaviour-2014.htm

Photos: Artisticco/Shutterstock.com

This work is published on the responsibility of the Secretary-

General of the OECD. The opinions expressed and

arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the

official views of the Organisation or of the governments of its

member countries. This document and any map included

herein are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty

over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiersand boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area.

December 2014

OECD (2014), Greening HouseholdBehaviour: Overview from the 2011

Survey, Revised Edition,OECD Studies

on Environmental Policy and Household

Behaviour, OECD Publishing, Paris,

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/97892641

81373-en.

ALSO IN THIS POLICY HIGHLIGHTS SERIES:

Towards greener households: energy

Towards greener households: food

Towards greener households: transport

Towards greener households: water
http://www.oecd.org/http://www.oecd.org/env/consumption-innovation/greening-household-behaviour-2014.htmhttp://www.oecd.org/env/consumption-innovation/greening-household-behaviour-2014.htmhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264181373-enhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264181373-enhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264181373-enhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264181373-enhttp://www.oecd.org/env/consumption-innovation/greening-household-behaviour-2014.htmhttp://www.oecd.org/env/consumption-innovation/greening-household-behaviour-2014.htmhttp://www.oecd.org/

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