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Voluntary recycling despite disincentives

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  • Marie Briguglio
  • Liam Delaney
  • Alex Wood

Abstract

This paper assesses the determinants of take-up of a voluntary waste separation scheme, in a scenario where residents sorted, stored and paid for collection of recycling waste even though mixed waste was collected at the kerbside more conveniently, free of charge and without any quantity limits. Uptake of the scheme was positive, persistent and diverse across localities, offering an opportunity to assess the factors determining voluntary participation in the presence of disincentives. We employ a unique panel data-set (n = 4,644) from Malta, including data on recyclable waste kilogrammes collected over the first 86 weeks of the scheme's operation. Drawing on insights from environmental economics and psychology, a model is empirically estimated. Results indicate that uptake is suppressed by the initial constraints households may face and stimulated by collection frequency. Political vote is an important determinant of participation and this interacts with scheme promotion to create diverse uptake rates.

Suggested Citation

  • Marie Briguglio & Liam Delaney & Alex Wood, 2016. "Voluntary recycling despite disincentives," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 59(10), pages 1751-1774, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jenpmg:v:59:y:2016:i:10:p:1751-1774
    DOI: 10.1080/09640568.2015.1086323
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Thomas C. Kinnaman & Kenji Takeuchi (ed.), 2014. "Handbook on Waste Management," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 14571.
    2. Baumol,William J. & Oates,Wallace E., 1988. "The Theory of Environmental Policy," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521322249.
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    Cited by:

    1. Czajkowski, Mikołaj & Zagórska, Katarzyna & Hanley, Nick, 2019. "Social norm nudging and preferences for household recycling," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    2. Therese Bonnici & Marie Briguglio & Glen William Spiteri, 2023. "Humor Helps: An Experimental Analysis of Pro-Environmental Social Media Communication," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-22, March.
    3. Yomna M. Sameer & Suzanna Elmassah & Charilaos Mertzanis & Lujain El-Maghraby, 2021. "Are Happier Nations More Responsible? Examining the Link Between Happiness and Sustainability," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 158(1), pages 267-295, November.
    4. Mikołaj Czajkowski & Katarzyna Zagórska & Nick Hanley, 2018. "Social norms and pro-environment behaviours: heterogeneous response to signals," Working Papers 2018-13, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw.
    5. Gonzalo Díaz-Meneses & Neringa Vilkaite-Vaitone, 2020. "Pinpointing the Barriers to Recycling at Destination," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-19, March.
    6. Briguglio, Marie & Delaney, Liam & Wood, Alex, 2018. "Partisanship, priming and participation in public-good schemes," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 136-150.
    7. Briguglio, Marie & García-Muñoz, Teresa & Neuman, Shoshana, 2020. "Environmental Engagement, Religion and Spirituality in the Context of Secularization," IZA Discussion Papers 13946, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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