ashley

The objective of the survey

This survey was conducted to gain insights about:

• Why do people recycle/not recycle?
• Do people know what can be recycled? 
• Are the current visuals working to encourage people to recycle?
• What would motivate them to recycle more/properly?

A total of 50 responses were collected and the results are presented below.

Brief summary

• Most of the respondents are either too lazy, busy or find it too troublesome to recycle but the majority recycles because they care for the environment and they want to reduce waste.
• Most of them know what can be thrown into recycling bins, but not all respondents know how to recycle plastic properly
• Most of them are interested in guides that are informative and easy to follow

Demographics of respondents

I tried to have a mixed group of respondents from different age groups, life stage (different employment status), and the role they play in the household.

Respondent’s general recycling knowledge

Among the 16 respondents who were working, only 6 had the motivation to recycle because they cared for the environment or wanted to reduce waste. The majority of them did not recycle because they are too busy, lazy, or find it too troublesome to recycle. Some gave their own comments that they did not know how to recycle properly or there isn’t a system in place for them to recycle easily.

Although most of the respondents already have the habit of putting the right recyclables in the recycling bins, there is still a minority that thinks that fabric or unwanted items can be recycled which can increase the workload for sorting out the items in the recycling bin.

Respondent’s plastic recycling knowledge

It is good that around 80 – 90% of respondents knew that they had to rinse the plastic items and throw away contaminated items. However, in reality, 10% is already enough to contaminate the whole recycling bin that causes the other recyclables to become general waste. 

The majority of the respondents did not know the purpose of the recycling symbols which can indicate that the symbols have not been useful or there hasn’t been enough education to teach the public about these recycling symbols.

• Plastic endanger wildlife
• Microplastic are present in our food and water
• Plastic cannot biodegrade (which means that they are here forever!)
• Attract harmful chemicals that pollute our water
• Plastic can be recycled to produce new items again

Respondent’s perception of current recycling strategies

Some of the positive comments were:

• “Informative”
• “Can learn from this video and act as an example for my children to follow me”
• “It’s a short video and benefits the world so why not”
• “Yes, the earth is being heavily polluted and that is why we need to be more conscious when we throw plastics and other recycled items.”
• “Yes, a lot of people do not know that contamination of the recycled items will make it not-recyclable so I’d share the video.”

Some of the negative comments were:

• “No. It does not attract my attention.”
• “Not interested”
• “No. I’m not interested because not many people are recycling so why should I recycle? One person’s effort is useless when so many others there don’t even recycle, contaminate recyclables, etc. “
• “No time, lazy, not that interested”
• “No, too long!” 

 

Some of the positive comments were:

• “Informative”
• “It is a good summary and has visuals that well represented each category.”
• “Yes, I will probably check first if it is not too inconvenient or difficult to find such guides online. ”
• “Pictures are definitely better and easier to understand for the young and elderly! ”
• “Yes, it teaches me what I can and cannot recycle”
• “I think I would if I had it around me when I’m recycling.”

Some of the negative comments were:

• “no….. not nice to look at…ok but maybe..”
• “No, it is too simplistic”
• “No. I know how to recycle more or less”

 

What will motivate you to recycle more plastic/recycle properly?

• “Implement culture like Japan to sort rubbish before disposing. I think Singaporeans work well with law. It’s tough but I believe the milleniels will do it as it’s our future.”
• “Monetary rewards”
• “Witnessing significant and direct benefits to the environment.”
• “I think monetary rewards generally motivate many people because humans are all generally incentives-centric! Look at the example of reverse cycling: Initially, they offered 20cents for every 4 bottles/cans recycled, and the responses were overwhelming! The elder generation even went to the extra mile to pick up and collect such recyclables around their neighbourhood in hope to exchange for more NTUC vouchers. It doesn’t matter how they are motivated, but the end goal of recycling is achieved. I was disappointed that they reviewed the structure to 20cents for every 20 bottles/cans as such would certainly discourage people to “go the extra mile” because it’s actually not worth their time”
• “Having more recycled bins around Singapore, not providing any plastic straws at food vendors.”
• “No motivation. People will just take from the blue recycle bin anyway. No point recycling. “

Takeaways

I think one of the solutions to increase the recycling rate and reduce the contamination rate for plastic is to create something that is more practical and tangible e.g. guides that people can follow easily without much trouble. People want things to be simple, they may not want to go too much out of their way just to recycle. Although monetary rewards can incentify their efforts, I think that it may not be sustainable and they may stop the habit of recycling if the rewards stop. E.g. the reverse vending machine.