Encouraging behaviour change on waste: Defra report

Department highlights best practice for waste reduction activity

15 February 2010

Defra have issued a report that suggests some means by which individuals and households can be encouraged to change their behaviour in order to reduce levels of waste. The research attempted to identify how pro-recycling behavioural change takes place, so that best practice can be established.

A series of interviews and trials have led the authors to suggest that weighing and measuring household municipal waste is an effective way of measuring personal improvement, as the visibility of progress serves as a means of continued encouragement. When this personal aspect is combined with group activities, such as discussion and the sharing of concerns and advice, effective long-term behavioural change is more likely to occur.