title: A problem unstuck? Evaluating the effectiveness of sticker prompts for encouraging household food waste recycling behaviour.
abstract: This Randomised Control Trial (RCT) investigated the effectiveness of using stickers as a visual prompt to encourage the separate collection of household food waste for recycling in two local authorities in South East England. During a baseline period of up to 15weeks, separately collected food waste was weighed (in tonnes) and averaged across households in both treatment (N=33,716 households within 29 defined areas) and control groups (N=30,568 households within 26 areas). A sticker prompt was then affixed to the lids of refuse bins in the treatment group area only. Weights for both groups were subsequently measured across a 16-week experimental period. Results showed that, in the control group, there was no change in the average weight of food waste captured for recycling between the baseline and experimental period. However, there was a significant increase (20.74%) in the treatment group, and this change in behaviour persisted in the longer term. Sticker prompts therefore appear to have a significant and sustained impact on food waste recycling rates, while being simple, practically feasible and inexpensive (£0.35 per household) for local authorities to implement at scale.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Environmental Strategy, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey GU2 7XH, United Kingdom; Waste Development, Surrey County Council, Kingston-Upon-Thames KT1 2DW, United Kingdom. Electronic address: l.shearer@surrey.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Linzi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Shearer
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey GU2 7XH, United Kingdom. Electronic address: b.gatersleben@surrey.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Birgitta
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gatersleben
authors.affiliation: Centre for Environmental Strategy, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey GU2 7XH, United Kingdom. Electronic address: s.morse@surrey.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Morse
authors.affiliation: Waste Development, Surrey County Council, Kingston-Upon-Thames KT1 2DW, United Kingdom. Electronic address: matthew.smyth@surreycc.gov.uk.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Smyth
authors.affiliation: Waste Development, Surrey County Council, Kingston-Upon-Thames KT1 2DW, United Kingdom. Electronic address: sally.hunt@surreycc.gov.uk.
authors.forename: Sally
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hunt
mesh_terms: D004739:England; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005735:Garbage; D006801:Humans; D059027:Recycling / Q000379:methods*; D012037:Refuse Disposal; D018505:Waste Management / Q000379:methods*
keywords: Behaviour change; Household food waste; Nudge; Recycling behaviour; Visual prompts