Reframing Recycling Behaviour through Consumers’ Perceptions: An Exploratory Investigation

Adekunle Oke, Seonaidh McDonald, Evagelos Korobilis-Magas, Oluyomi A. Osobajo and Bankole Osita Awuzie
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Adekunle Oke: Aberdeen Business School, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen AB10 7 QE, UK
Seonaidh McDonald: Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging Challenge, Innovate UK, UK Research and Innovation, Swindon SN1 1AE, UK
Evagelos Korobilis-Magas: School of Creative and Cultural Business, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen AB10 7 QE, UK
Oluyomi A. Osobajo: Aberdeen Business School, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen AB10 7 QE, UK
Bankole Osita Awuzie: Department of Built Environment, Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology, Central University of Technology, Free State (CUT), Bloemfontein 9301, South Africa

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 24, 1-14

Abstract: Despite the increasing awareness of the consequences of waste, there is no consensus on how and why consumers engage in recycling, making it challenging to design behavioural interventions that might promote recycling, especially in organisational settings. This study is designed to explain consumers’ recycling behaviour and how it differs across contexts, particularly between home and work settings. Using personal accounts of 367 employees from different organisations in the UK, this study explores recycling behaviour at home and work including its motivations and barriers. The findings show that recycling behaviour is different across contexts due to many disparate factors underlying people’s waste generation and recycling behaviours from one context to another. According to the findings, buying and consumption behaviour and waste generation patterns influence the way consumers engage in recycling. The study further demonstrates that contextual factors and individual circumstances are important contributors to consumption behaviour, waste production, and recycling behaviour. While recycling behaviour has been investigated extensively, the findings of this study indicate the need for consumption and waste production patterns to be taken into consideration when designing recycling interventions, enhancing the prospect of a circular economy. This study contributes to theory and practice by associating recycling behaviour with buying and consumption behaviour, including waste generation patterns.

Keywords: recycling behaviour; consumption patterns; facilities; waste management; circular economy; home and work; accountability; control; responsibility; personal circumstances (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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