Assessing Peoples Attitudes and Behaviours towards Participating in Sustainable Waste Management Behaviours - Literature review Example

?Assessing People’s Attitudes and Behaviours Towards Participating In Sustainable Waste Management Behaviours Introduction Waste management issues have risen to the forefront of governments political agendas around the world following the Brundtland Report (1987), which defined sustainable development as ‘development that meets the needs of the present without comprising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.’ In 2001/02, for example, 28.8 million tonnes of waste was collected in the United Kingdom, 89% of which was household waste (25.6 million tonnes). The majority of this waste (77%) ended up in landfill sites, whilst only 13.6% was recycled (Municipal Waste Management Survey 2001/02). The need for effective waste management strategies is therefore crucial if governments around are to reduce the amount of household waste being disposed of in land fill sites, increase the amount of household waste being recycled, maintain public support and convince people to recycle and decrease the levels of environmental damage caused by landfill sites. This literature review aims to explore the factors that encourage people to recycle. In order to achieve this, I will discuss the findings of a series of waste management reports including Barr et al (2001) who measured a series of reported waste management behaviours, including recycling, re-use and waste minimisation. They concluded that recycling emerged as the most popular sustainable waste management activity, due to the ease of access to recycling facilities. Ebreo and Vining (2000) also claimed that people’s behaviour can be linked to their attitudes, values and perspectives towards the environment, in which people with more positive views towards the environment would recycle more frequently. Socio-demographic characteristics such as age, gender, income levels and occupation also influence people’s participation, motivations, attitudes and behaviours towards waste management issues according to Schultz and Oskamp (1995). Environmental Framework Geographers are divided of the best way to study the people’s attitudes, behaviours and values attached to their environmental actions. Ajzen’s (1991) Theory of Planned Behaviour provides a way geographers can do this, and helps them understand people’s behaviours and identifies the determinants of sustainable waste management behaviours. Figure 1 illustrates the TPB and highlights how a combination of subjective norms, attitudes towards recycling behaviour and perceived behavioural control affect social behaviour and the likelihood an individual is to engage in sustainable waste management practices. Tonglet et al (2004) have claimed that the TPB is an effective model in assessing the driving forces behind individual’s waste management behaviours. Figure 1 - The Theory Of Planned Behaviour (TPB) Attitude towards the behaviour Subjective norm Intention Behaviour Perceived behavioural control Adapted from Ajzen (1991) However, research by Barr et al (2001) has concluded that the structure of waste management behaviour is complex and they became dissatisfied with the TPB in explaining waste management behaviour. They suggest that other important factors have been neglected. It is therefore important for research to draw upon several environmental framework models that explain the interaction of different key variables and factors. One such framework designed by Barr et al (2005) complements the TPB and is depicted in Figure 2. It seeks to appreciate how different forms of reported environmental action can be predicted. Figure 2 – Environmental Behaviour Model Situational Variables Environmental Values Behavioural Intention Environmental Behaviour Psychological Variables Adapted from Barr et al (2001) The role of three key factors have emerged that have been shown to influence people’s level of commitment to environmental action. These are: The situational circumstances in which individuals are placed The socio-environmental values individuals hold Attitudes towards specific behaviours I believe that combining the TPB and Barr et al’s environmental framework to predict recycling behaviour can provide a better understanding of environmental behaviour. I will now assess the literature that has reviewed people’s environmental attitudes, behaviours and socio-demographical characteristics which are believed to influence people’s waste management behaviours. Environmental Values And Attitudes Ebreo and Vining (2000) state that an individual’s waste management behaviour can be linked to their underlying attitude’s towards the environment. Barr et al (2005) suggest that there is a general agreement that those who value the environment from an eco-centric perspective are more likely than those who don’t value the environment or nature to participate in environmental behaviours such as recycling. However, Oskamp et al (1991) found no relationship between pro-ecology attitudes and behaviours in their study of kerbside recycling in California. However, Scott and Willits (1994) point out that overall there is a positive relationship between values and actions relating to participation in recycling schemes. However, Scott and Willits claim of a ‘positive relationship’ has been challenged and it could be that individuals may feel pressured into verbally sympathising with environmental issues, despite not really being that interested in recycling or the environment. This supports Oskamp et al (1991) who detected a genuine disparity between their respondent’s high environmental value scores compared with their moderate levels of behaviour and environmental actions when it came to assessing how much the recycled per week. Schultz and Oskamp (1995) also claim that the reporting and research into assessing the relationship between concern for the environment and sustainable waste management behaviour in early academic research was misleading, and has led to the common misconception that individuals with more positive general environmental values and attitudes are more likely to have higher levels of sustainable waste management behaviour. For example, they claim that articles reporting ‘no relationship’ between recycling attitudes and behaviours were usually not published unless they contested a previous finding. This meant that the early studies on waste behaviour only tended to report significant relationships between positive environmental attitudes and waste management rates. Schultz and Oskamp (1995) also suggest that the relationship between environmental concern and recycling has decreased over the years. They suggest that in the past, conditions in which recycling required a high amount of effort resulted in only people with high environmental concern recycling. However, nowadays, the increased financial incentives to recycle means people are doing so for more reasons than just altruistic concern for the environment, thus the relationship between environmental concern and recycling seems to have diminished or disappeared. City councils have also started to introduce fines for people and businesses who don’t recycle their waste. Therefore, despite a rise in recycling rates, there may not always be a rise in environmental attitudes Poole’s (1992) household waste management study also indicated that despite 88% of respondents claiming to recycle, it was only the top 20% of these recyclers who contributed 80% of recycled materials. Therefore the relationship between individuals who recycle also appears to be unequal, and despite increases in recycling rates, it does not always mean more people are recycling. Situational Variables Barr et al (2001) define situational variables as an individual’s personal circumstances at a given time, represented by access to or knowledge and experience of waste management. Recycling behaviour can be linked to a number of key situational variables including the amount of effort involved, convenience, storage space and access to recycling schemes. Tonglet et al (2004) collaborates with Barr et al’s claim and suggests that situational factors were strongly correlated with sustainable waste management attitudes in two ways in their research: 1. Having the appropriate skills, resources and opportunities to recycle contributed towards positive recycling attitudes 2. Non-recyclers stated that they thought that recycling was inconvenient, took up too much time and room, was too complicated and a waste on money Barr et al (2005) have also shown that recyclers have different motives and concerns for engaging in sustainable waste management behaviours in contrast to infrequent and non-recyclers. For example, they found that non-recyclers were more sensitive to issues related to inconvenience than recyclers. They also found that recyclers could be distinguished from non-recyclers in their support of drop-off and kerbside facilities and on whether they believed recycling should be voluntary or compulsory. Location was also cited as a key situational factor in determining recycling rates, in which recycling rates tended to decrease the further away people lived from recycling centres. Barr et al (2005) also found that access to a kerbside recycling bin results in enhanced recycling behaviour due to their ease of access. Barr et al (2006) have also identified knowledge as important in predicting recycling behaviour, in which the more information a person has about which materials can be recycled, the more likely that person is to recycle. However, Oskamp et al (1991) suggested that recycling behaviours maybe less related to knowledge about global environmental issues, but more to do with the specifics of recycling, i.e. ease of access. None the less, various studies including that by Ebreo and Vining (2000) have demonstrated that recyclers usually have deeper environmental awareness levels. Barr et al (2001) also claim that socio-demographic factors influence people’s participation, motivations, attitudes and behaviours towards waste management issues and offer another way of explaining individual recycling rates. They claim that past research indicates that people with the highest level of environmental concern, who as a result engage in sustainable waste behaviours tend to be young, female, better educated, higher earners, urban dwellers and liberal in their ideology. However, other studies question both the existence and direction of the relationship between demographic variables and waste management rates. For example, Oskamp et al (1991) found no relationship between age and self reported recycling amongst community residents in a voluntary kerbside recycling program, whilst Ebreo and Vining (2000) reported that older residents were more likely to engage in recycling behaviour, compared with younger people. Ebreo and Vining suggest that this could be due to the fact that older retired people have more free time, and so can engage to a greater extent in recycling practices. Similarly, people with young children may have little time on their hands and so might not recycle as much. Age, gender, income and education appear to be the most cited and are suggested as having the greatest influence in affecting recycling rates. Psychological Variables Barr et al (2005) refer to psychological variables as unique traits of individuals, that can help explain behaviours and attitudes that can affect waste management behaviours. They claim that people who engage in sustainable waste management behaviours are characterised by feelings or moral responsibility towards the environment because they are more aware of environmental problems. This suggests that an individual’s intrinsic and extrinsic motivations influence their waste management behaviour. However, other psychological factors have had conflicting assessments in determining their level of influence of generating positive environmental attitudes and behaviour. One such factor is the effect social pressure from family, friends and the wider community to recycle has in influencing people’s waste management behaviour. However, Oskamp et al (1991) found no significant link between an individuals waste behaviour compared with that of their wider community. Oskamp et al (1991) also found that infrequent recyclers thought that their contribution didn’t make much difference in the long term to the environment. ‘Social-psychological constructs such as moral obligation, responsibility, social desirability and response efficacy have thus been highlighted as significant motivations for environmental action’ (Barr et al, 2006: 918). Summary Of Literature Review Previous research has indicated that an individual’s sustainable waste management behaviour is significantly influenced by their environmental attitudes, socio-demographics and the frequency in which they engage in sustainable waste management behaviours. The research presented in this literature review suggests that concern for the environment is a key indicator of determining how likely an individual will be to participate in sustainable waste management practices. Issues to do with the ease of access to recycling facilities are also a key factor in determing levels of sustinabale waste management according to Oskamp et al (1991). I believe that combining the TPB and Barr et al’s (2005) environmental framework would provide a thorough analysis and discussion surrounding the influences of sustainable waste management practices for a future research proposal. Word Count: 1962 References Ajzen, I (1991) ‘The Theory of Planned Behaviour’ Organizational Behaviour and Human Decision Processes (50) pp 179-211. Barr, S, Gilg, A and Ford, N (2001) ‘A Conceptual Framework for Understanding and Analysing Attitudes Towards Household Waste Management’ Environment and Planning A (33) pp 2025-2048. Barr, S, Gilg, A and Ford, N (2005) ‘Defining the Multi-Dimensional Aspects of Household Waste Management: A Study of Reported Behaviour in Devon.’ Resources, Conservation and Recycling (45) pp 172-192. Barr, S and Gilg, A (2006) ‘Sustainable lifestyles: framing environmental action in and around the home.’ Geoforum (37) pp 906-920. Brundtland Report. 1987. "Towards Sustainable Development" in Our Common Future, pp 43 - 66.Oxford University Press, Oxford. Ebreo, A and Vining, J (2000) ‘Motives as Predictors of the Public’s Attitudes Toward Solid Waste Issues.’ Environmental Management (25) pp 153-168. Municipal Waste Strategy: Knowsley. (Accessed 25th April 2011) Available at www.merseysidewda.gov.uk Oskamp, S, Harrington, M, Edwards, T, Sherwood, D, Okuda, S and Swanson, D (1991) ‘Factors Influencing Household Recycling Behaviour.’ Environment and Behaviour (23) pp 494-519. Poole (1992) ‘Participation in Residential Curbside Waste Reduction Programs.’ Resource Recycling (7) pp 46-51. Schultz, P, Oskamp, S and Mainieri, T (1995) ‘Who Recycles and When? A Review of Personal and Situational Factors.’ Journal of Environmental Psychology (15) pp 105-121. Scott and Willis (1994) ‘Environmental Attitudes and Behaviour: A Pennsylvania Survey.’ Cited in Barr, S, Gilg, A and Ford, N (2001) ‘A Conceptual Framework for Understanding and Analysing Attitudes Towards Household Waste Management’ Environment and Planning A (33) pp 2025-2048. Tonglet, M, Philips, P and Read, A (2004) ‘Determining the Drivers for Householder Pro-Environmental Behaviour: Waste Minimisation Compared to Recycling. Resources, Conservation and Recycling (42) pp 27-48. Read More