Improving recycling engagement in Plymouth

Plymouth City Council was keen to tackle contamination of household recycling, although it knew that any alterations to its waste and recycling services would need to be future-proofed with upcoming mandatory requirements in mind, to avoid any changes quickly becoming superseded by the new regulations.

Our behaviour change experts were brought in to help the Council understand the behaviour and misalignment that was driving these issues, as well as to provide clear recommendations on the strategic actions that could increase recycling engagement going forwards.

Understanding the rationale behind low engagement

Our primary focus was to ascertain the reasons why recycling rates were in decline across low-engagement households, including:

• Identifying the themes and drivers behind low recycling rates, and the potential routes to improve this.
• Assessing contamination levels in kerbside and litter collections, in particular which materials were frequently being managed incorrectly.
• Comparing performance changes since the implementation of alternate weekly collections (where residual and recycling collections are both fortnightly, but on alternate weeks) to assess the impact of this service change.

To unpick the root causes driving recycling behaviour our team adopted a mixed-methods approach. We compared the results of three previous waste composition studies to assess any changes in waste and recycling trends over time. This provided better understand of the context within which current behaviours were occurring.

Alongside this, we compiled an estates inventory for a selection of flatted blocks to understand waste and recycling provision and potential barriers to engagement. This was conducted using the ReLondon ‘Flats Recycling Package’.

Meanwhile, a communications review across Plymouth City Council’s core communication channels allowed us to gain insights into information provision, messaging emphasis, and resident engagement across varying media.

Finally, a resident survey and a suite of in-person focus groups provided direct insights into resident attitudes and knowledge of recycling collections, with focus group activities specifically designed to draw out reactions to varying potential levers for change.

Devising better recycling outcomes for Plymouth

Our research showed that the previous service change had been effective in improving recycling behaviour – and that waste composition had remained relatively consistent across the longer period. However, it also revealed a number of opportunities for improvements around waste management processes and in contamination reduction.

Additional resident engagement highlighted a lack of understanding from some residents around the current recycling service, along with a strong appetite for more educational messages.

Following the initial research, we supported the Council in implementing some of the recommended changes. This included content improvements to the existing Council website to weave more waste reduction education messaging and encourage residents to adopt more sustainable habits. We also worked with the Plymouth City Council Communications team on the development of a ‘back to basics’ campaign, focusing on reconnecting residents with the recycling service and improving engagement in recycling activities.

This work will help Plymouth City Council progress towards its aims: increasing awareness of correct recycling practices and reducing residual waste generated by households. The measures recommended should also make a difference in getting low-engagement households more involved with recycling, as well as ensuring commonly discarded materials are being recycled in the right way.