Why recycle A comparison of recycling motivations in four communities

Journal Article · · Environmental Management; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02645669· OSTI ID:6907491

Vining, J; Linn, N; Burdge, R J ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Illinois, Urbana (United States)

Four Illinois communities with different sociodemographic compositions and at various stages of planning for solid waste management were surveyed to determine the influence of sociodemographic variables and planning stages on the factors that motivate recycling behavior. A factor analysis of importance ratings of reasons for recycling and for not recycling yielded five factors interpreted as altruism, personal inconvenience, social influences, economic incentives, and household storage. The four communities were shown to be significantly different in multivariate analyses of the five motivational factors. However, attempts to explain these community differences with regression analyses, which predicted the motivational factors with dummy codes for planning stages, a measure of self-reported recycling behavior, and sociodemographic measures were unsatisfactory. Contrary to expectation, the solid waste management planning stages of the cities (curbside pickup, recycling dropoff center, and planning in progress) contributed only very slightly to the prediction of motivational factors for recycling. Community differences were better explained by different underlying motivational structures among the four communities. Altruistic reasons for recycling (e.g., conserving resources) composed the only factor which was similar across the four communities. This factor was also perceived to be the most important reason for recycling by respondents from all four communities.

• OSTI ID: 6907491
• Journal Information: Environmental Management; (United States), Journal Name: Environmental Management; (United States) Vol. 16:6; ISSN EMNGDC; ISSN 0364-152X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
320604* -- Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization-- Municipalities & Community Systems-- Municipal Waste Management-- (1980-)
HUMAN FACTORS
MANAGEMENT
MUNICIPAL WASTES
PUBLIC OPINION
RECYCLING
RESIDENTIAL SECTOR
RESOURCE CONSERVATION
SOLID WASTES
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTES