Household Recycling Incentives

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Household Recycling Incentives
Dr Ryan Woodard
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Structure

• Introduction
• Sussex Incentives project
• Examples and results
• Government strategy

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Municipal waste recycling rate in England (source
DEFRA)
4

• Waste Strategy for England 2007 target 40
  recycling by 2010
• How achieve??
• March 2005 DEFRA launched 3.1 million pilot
  study to evaluate the effectiveness in a range of
  incentives to encourage recycling

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Councils working in partnership
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Four project themes Nov 05-Feb 06

• Vouchers
• Shop voucher
• Leisure voucher
• Community
• Community competitions
• Island school communities

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Shop voucher schemes

• Shop vouchers
• Methods
• Results
• Key findings

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Voucher projects

• Reward households that took part in recycling
  with vouchers that could be redeemed at local
  shops/leisure facilities

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Project overview
Authority Households in pilot Incentive Redeemable
Worthing 1,003 2.50 at Green House, 50p at local shops Local shops, Green House
Worthing 969 2.50 Green House
Arun 574 1.25 Shops
Arun 531 75p plus extra 50p if container more than one third full Shops
Eastbourne 845 50p Shops
Eastbourne 719 1 Shops
Wealden 800 25p, 75p or 1.25 depending on overall performance Shops
Wealden 227 25p , 75p or .125 depending on performance of all flats Shops
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Key findings from all shop schemes

• 2-15 increases in participation
• Higher value more effective
• Proximity and type of shops important
• Residents wanted more choice
• Retailers positive
• Resources required
• No one size fits all solution.

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Arun
Area Ham South Ham North
Households in pilot 574 531
Incentive Awarded voucher for recycling 1.25 for local shops Awarded voucher for recycling 75p plus extra 50p if placing out gt1/3 container
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Arun participation
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Arun redemption (77 fixed/64 variable)
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Arun summary

• 13-20 increase in set out
• 12-15 increase in participation
• 72 redemption
• 1.25 right order of magnitude
• Shops located nearby and popular with residents
• Overall successful

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Worthing

Area Castle Selden
Households in pilot 1,003 969
Incentive 2.50 Green House 50p at shops 2.50 at Green House
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Green House
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Green House
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Worthing participation
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Worthing summary

• Both areas saw 3 increase in participation
• 43 voucher redemption
• In Castle 93 of vouchers redeemed at shops for
  a lower value
• Residents wanted more choice

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Four project themes Nov 05-Feb 06

• Vouchers
• Shop voucher
• Leisure voucher
• Community
• Community competitions
• Island school communities

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Leisure vouchers

• Same concept as shop vouchers though residents
  given discounts on leisure activities
• Promoting healthy lifestyles

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Key findings from leisure schemes

• 1-21 increase in participation
• Big variations in performance
• Levels of redemption low
• Popular with specific demographics

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Mid Sussex
Area Weds Thurs
Households in pilot 710 1208
Incentive 3 vouchers worth a swim awarded on a household basis 3 vouchers worth a swim awarded on a household basis
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Mid Sussex participation
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Why Wednesday round better?
Feedback Weds Thurs
Residents that had heard of scheme 79 70
Residents that saved up vouchers 53 41
Residents that thought the scheme was a good idea 61 49
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Wed
Thu
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Four project themes Nov 05-Feb 06

• Vouchers
• Shop voucher
• Leisure voucher
• Community
• Community competitions
• Island school communities

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Three way competitions

• Three communities compete against each other
• Increases in recycling rewarded
• Group funding
• Public announcements of 1st, 2nd, 3rd prizes each
  month (400, 200, 100)
• An organising body
• Housing association (HA)
• Parish Council (PC)

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Method

• Baseline data collected (Participation
  rates/volumes)
• Schemes presented in person to HAs/PCs
• Assistance offered for dissemination
• Introductory fliers delivered to households
• Scheme posters provided
• Trial data collected
• Newspapers notified and updated
• HAs/PCs expected to do more!

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Three way village competition
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Variation of volumes collected in housing
blocks
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Three way competition schemes

• Villages were not effective! But already had 60
  participation
• Clear effects in some flats
• -Two flats did well against controls
• -Halton showed least improvements but
• always had highest volume per household
• It seems that closer communities perform better
• Communities already performing well may need
  different schemes

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Four project themes Nov 05-Feb 06

• Vouchers
• Shop voucher
• Leisure voucher
• Community
• Community competitions
• Island school communities

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School community schemes

• Get local community to work for group benefit
  (their schools)
• 50-200 per month released for 4 months to local
  schools amounts depending on recycling
  increases in the whole community

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Schemes

• Islands of recycling boundaries
• Lewes kerbside scheme - plastic, paper, tins,
  cans (weight)
• Rother bring banks of village - plastic and
  paper (volumes)
• Sompting village glass (bring bank and kerbside)
  (weight)

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Method

• Baseline measurements taken
• Every household in town/village leafleted
• Newspapers notified
• Trial measurements taken
• Results announced monthly
• - but this step needs more work!
• Cheques issued!

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Variation of recycling tonnages collected in
Lewes town

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Variation of recycling tonnages collected in
Rother
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Conclusions

• These types of school schemes can be effective,
  with the town of Lewes increasing recycling
  overall by 17
• Community spirit seems to be an important element
  for greatest success

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Outputs

• Conference in partnership with RRF
• 2 reports
• Papers at Warmnet Waste 2006
• M.K. Harder and R. Woodard(2007) Systematic
  studies of shop and leisure voucher incentives
  for household recycling. Resources, Conservation
  Recycling,51, 4, 732-753
• Invited by DEFRA to interrogate the results from
  all the pilots funded and fed into developing the
  Waste Strategy

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Overall recommendations

• Vouchers need to be over 1
• Shops or facilities where vouchers can be
• redeemed must be within half a mile or a major
• retailer
• Schemes more successful in lower achieving
• areas
• Rewards based on individual recycling practice
  work better

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Overall recommendations

• Most successful community projects in areas where
  there is a strong community identity/cooperative
  community group
• Projects designed to run for several months

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Waste Strategy for England 2007

• Consultation proposal
• Waste financial incentive with net neutral
• impact upon local residents (i.e. the scheme
• must not increase the amount residents as a
• whole pay to their local authority)
• Local authorities flexible to choose exact
• nature of scheme
• Closes 16th August

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Thank you

• Visit
• www.brighton.ac.uk/WERG
• E-mail
• rw95_at_brighton.ac.uk