Each year, in the European Union alone, 1.3 billion tonnes of waste are thrown away, some 40 million tonnes of it being hazardous. Reducing household waste has become an area of prime concern for national governments, policy makers and local communities.

Irish researchers have recently used an innovative approach to investigating household waste management behaviour that involves the active participation of householders in a waste minimisation exercise at home. The study builds on research findings from a 3-year project that investigated householders‘‘ attitudes and actions with regard to waste in Ireland. The study was conducted with approximately 2000 participants and involved a survey, interviews with selected participants and focus groups with young people in order to understand their perceptions of waste. The final phase of the project consisted in a household waste exercise with a selected group of participants lasting one month. It involved the householders implementing "good" waste management practices (e.g. minimising and reusing waste, composting, separating waste, etc.) in their homes and investigating the practical applicability of different practices to manage waste on a daily basis.

Overall, the separation of recyclable and organic material resulted in a visible reduction in the amount of waste for disposal, which provided the householders with a tangible reward for their actions. Another positive outcome of the exercise was that many householders were surprised at how little time waste management activities such as waste separation and recycling took. In fact, they expressed a desire to continue with these practices once the exercise was completed. Indeed, many participants commented that generating less waste made them feel "good% as they felt they were contributing to preserving the environment. This agrees with a growing body of literature that suggests that behaviour driven by environmental citizenship is more likely to continue in the future in comparison to behaviour driven by financial incentives.

One of the main obstacles to improving waste management in households was related to the accessibility of recycling and waste management facilities. The data collected also highlighted the issue of space as a factor influencing household management attitudes and behaviours.

Finally, it was observed that while levels of recycling generally increased during and after the exercise, there was more resilience to changing purchasing habits leading to the reduction of waste, such as buying items with less packaging. The authors argue that the householders appeared unwilling to pay the increased cost associated with buying more environmentally-friendly products and did not feel that they were gaining any obvious benefits by changing from their regular brands.

The authors conclude that despite the limitations of this research approach, such as the cost of undertaking such a lengthy exercise and its demands on time, it offers enhanced learning opportunities for the participating households. Furthermore, this approach, in conjunction with other research methods, may provide more detailed information for policy makers.

Source: Frances Fahy and Anna Davies (2007) « Home improvements: Household waste minimisation and action research », Resources, Conservation and Recycling, In Press, available online 8 February 2007