Social barriers to recycling : a sociological study

This thesis links the environmentally sustainable practice of recycling of post-consumer waste at the micro level of the individual household with the macro level of an institutionalised system of kerbside recycling programmes. It seeks to explain why, despite the high levels of environmental concern which currently exist within Western industrialised societies, this environmentally-friendly practice is often performed on an uneven or irregular basis, both in terms of the participation rate by individuals and in the range of materials which can be recycled. The proposed explanatory model identifies the key determinants of recycling. In addition it examines the sociopolitical factors which affect the recycling of post-consumer waste materials, and argues that institutionalised recycling schemes are designed to have only a minimal impact on production and consumption. The empirical section of the thesis examines the impact of value orientation, knowledge of recycling, normative influences, perceptions of environmental risk, environmental orientation, the provision of institutionalised recycling programmes and sociodemographic factors. This examination is based on analysis of data from the 1993 International Social Science Program Family and The Environment survey and Tasmanian recycling data collected for this research project. The analysis highlights the contribution of four key factors influencing recycling practices: knowledge of recycling, community norms, environmental concern and the provision of institutionalised recycling programmes