Design-Based Approach to Support Sorting Behavior of Food Packaging

Babak Nemat (), Mohammad Razzaghi, Kim Bolton and Kamran Rousta
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Babak Nemat: The Swedish Centre for Resource Recovery, University of Borås, SE-501 90 Borås, Sweden
Mohammad Razzaghi: Department of Industrial Design, Faculty of Applied Arts, University of Art, Tehran 1136813518, Iran
Kim Bolton: The Swedish Centre for Resource Recovery, University of Borås, SE-501 90 Borås, Sweden
Kamran Rousta: The Swedish Centre for Resource Recovery, University of Borås, SE-501 90 Borås, Sweden

Clean Technol., 2023, vol. 5, issue 1, 1-32

Abstract: It is widely acknowledged that environmental impacts from packaging waste depend on how consumers sort this waste fraction. In this research, “design for sustainable behavior” (DfSB) strategies are used to improve a cream packaging design that can support proper sorting of packaging waste as a sustainable behavior. The application of three DfSB strategies—“match”, “steer”, and “force”—was examined through circular interviews and practical experience with two groups of participants in Karlskrona, Sweden. Prototyping was used to provide a more realistic experiment and enhance communication during the interviews. The results show that consumer-packaging interaction during the usage phase is important to enhance proper sorting behavior. The results also show the potential of a user-centered design-based approach to study consumer-packaging interaction and to understand the challenges faced by users when sorting packaging waste. It also shows the possibility of packaging design to script consumer behavior and reveals details that are important when designing packaging that was not known. In this vein, packaging form, color, and haptic attributes are the most influential design attributes that can support packaging functionalities and script consumer sorting behavior.

Keywords: packaging design; packaging waste; sustainable behavior; sorting packaging waste; packaging functionality; emotional factor; haptic attributes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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