{"id":6961,"date":"2023-02-06T20:40:51","date_gmt":"2023-02-06T19:40:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gpsj.co.uk\/?p=6961"},"modified":"2023-02-06T20:42:52","modified_gmt":"2023-02-06T19:42:52","slug":"keep-britain-tidy-calls-for-collective-action-to-move-people-beyond-recycling-and-onto-waste-prevention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gpsj.co.uk\/?p=6961","title":{"rendered":"Keep Britain Tidy calls for collective action to move people beyond recycling and onto waste prevention"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>New research from environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy<\/a> reveals a major barrier to driving urgently needed waste reduction and reuse behaviours is a fundamental misunderstanding amongst the public of what waste prevention actually means.<\/p>\n

Under the waste hierarchy (more commonly communicated to people as \u2018reduce, reuse, recycle\u2019), recycling is important, but reduce<\/em> and reuse<\/em> sit above this and are crucial when looking to lessen the environmental impact of what we purchase, use and dispose of. However, people feel they are \u201cdoing their bit\u201d for the environment by recycling; while this should not be discouraged, the charity is calling on policy-makers and practitioners to work together to educate and motivate people to move beyond recycling and make choices that reduce the environmental impact of what they purchase in the first place.<\/p>\n

In the absence of meaningful progress at government level on waste prevention or steps to bring down resource use, the charity has launched a new report<\/a> for waste management and sustainable consumption policy-makers and behaviour change practitioners to ignite debate on waste prevention barriers and prompt urgent action.<\/p>\n

Bringing together quantitative surveys, focus groups and an ethnographic study the report reveals key insights about the public\u2019s waste prevention knowledge gaps and their attitudes to waste, including:<\/p>\n

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  1. Lack of understanding about the waste hierarchy <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The prioritisation of recycling over waste prevention in policy has led to a fundamental lack of understanding of the waste hierarchy among most of the public. This is a significant waste prevention barrier that needs to be addressed as a priority especially as when the waste hierarchy is properly explained, the public easily understand the concept. In Keep Britain Tidy\u2019s national survey, when presented with a visual representation and explanation of the waste hierarchy, 55% agreed that they now have a better understanding of how waste should be dealt with to minimise its environmental impact.<\/p>\n

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    1. People associate waste more with what they throw away than what they buy <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      A far greater proportion of people associate negative environmental impact with putting things in the bin (not recycling) compared to buying the things they want and need (83% compared to 49% respectively). Keep Britain Tidy recommends a shift in narrative to focus more on what we buy rather than what we throw away.<\/p>\n

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      1. Lack of knowledge between waste prevention and the climate emergency\"\"<\/a> <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Stronger links need to be made between the climate emergency and how waste prevention behaviours make a difference. The survey showed 68% of people think that recycling is the best thing they can do to reduce the environmental impact of the things they buy and a third (33%) said they didn\u2019t realise there are much better ways to reduce the impact of their waste than recycling. Eight in ten people say, as a country, we buy too much stuff (79%) but only a quarter (25%) say they personally buy too much stuff. This demonstrates that the concerns people may have about consumption aren\u2019t related to their own personal behaviour.<\/p>\n

          \n
        1. More dialogue is needed about waste prevention <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          The research showed a lack of understanding of what waste prevention actually means, particularly the practical things people can do to prevent waste. People see waste as something to be \u2018managed\u2019 rather than prevented \u2013 \u2018wasting better\u2019 rather than \u2018wasting less\u2019. There is a clear need for more dialogue and celebration around people\u2019s waste prevention behaviours and good practice.\u00a0 Using the insights from the report, Keep Britain Tidy launched Buy Nothing New Month<\/a> at the start of January, a new behaviour change intervention to help people move up the waste hierarchy.\u00a0 <\/em>Throughout the month, Keep Britain Tidy shared tips and tricks on how people could buy nothing new and make the most of what they already had. The campaign called on people to rethink what they wanted versus what they needed, reconsider if they could repair versus replace and think about whether they cold rent, borrow or buy second-hand rather than buy new. (See box out for more information).<\/p>\n

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          1. We need the right infrastructure in place to make it as easy as possible for the public to reduce and reuse<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            The research revealed that only four out of ten people (41%) feel they have access to products and services that can help them reduce waste. More investment, signposting and promotion of local initiatives from repair cafes to rental schemes is crucial to help drive change.<\/p>\n

            Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, Chief Executive of Keep Britain Tidy said: <\/strong>\u201cWe urgently need to see a widespread adoption of waste prevention behaviours to help bring natural resource use and carbon emissions down to environmentally sustainable levels. Moving people up the waste hierarchy, from recycling to waste prevention, is a huge challenge when our current systems are geared towards increased consumption of resources. <\/em><\/p>\n

            \u201cWhile government waste prevention policies are continuously delayed, the onus is on practitioners to drive behaviour change.\u00a0 This includes NGOs working on all aspects of \u2018reduce, reuse, recycle\u2019 and sustainable consumption and also local authorities as people\u2019s most prominent source of information about recycling. Collectively, we have to attempt to counteract the marketing messages that people are bombarded with, continually pushing <\/em>them to buy more stuff. <\/em><\/p>\n

            \u201cLearnings from our first Buy Nothing New Month campaign will help develop the evidence base around how to help people move up the waste hierarchy to buying less stuff and maximising the life of stuff that already exists. This is just the beginning and we invite other organisations to collaborate with us, debate and share evidence to take this agenda forward.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

            The report, the research that underpins it and the Buy Nothing New Month campaign have been made possible thanks to an award from <\/em>Postcode Earth Trust<\/em><\/a>, a grant-giving Trust funded entirely by players of <\/em>People\u2019s Postcode Lottery<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

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            \"\"<\/a>A New Behaviour Change Intervention – Buy Nothing New Month<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

            Keep Britain Tidy\u2019s research ultimately aimed to generate insights to inform a new behaviour change intervention to help people prevent waste and therefore consume more sustainably. As a result, in January 2023, the charity launched Buy Nothing New Month, a new behaviour change intervention and digital campaign that embraced buying nothing new for the whole of January, \u201cto save your pennies and protect your planet\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n

            Throughout the month, Keep Britain Tidy shared tips and tricks on how people could buy nothing new and make the most of what they already had. The campaign called on people to rethink what they wanted versus what they needed, reconsider if they could repair versus replace and think about whether they cold rent, borrow or buy second-hand rather than buy new. (See box out for more information).<\/em><\/p>\n

            The campaign pillars:<\/p>\n