Targeting Plastic Recycling Intentions : Insights from a Community-Based Social Marketing Approach

Abstract: Mitigating the negative environmental impact of plastics is an important part of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Despite plastics having great recycling potential, it is the waste fraction with the lowest recycling rate in Sweden (with 33% being recycled). Hence, efforts must be made to promote households' engagement in plastic recycling. Therefore, an informational campaign with the aim of increasing residents’ plastic recycling intentions was designed, using Community-Based Social Marketing. The campaign was made in collaboration with the real estate company Ikano Bostad, and was implemented in their residential area in Danderyd, Sweden. The campaign was running for 5 weeks and was designed and distributed as two posters, which addressed the context-specific barriers and enablers to plastic recycling among residents. To aid the design and evaluation of the campaign, the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) was applied for a deeper understanding of the underlying constructs of plastic recycling intentions. To measure the campaign's effectiveness, two questionnaires (one pre-campaign and one post-campaign) were distributed to the residents, consisting of 294 individuals, to obtain quantitative data about their intentions towards plastic recycling. The results did not show any empirical support for the campaign's effectiveness in increasing residents’ plastic recycling intentions. However, this study contributes important insights and recommendations for increasing future campaign effectiveness, such as highlighting the importance of empowering and motivating individuals and the benefits of conducting a profound pre-study before designing the campaign.