Your Views on Recycling

Overview

Throughout July our awesome waste advisors Craig Brice (pictured below) and Dan Knight walked the streets of Sutton, knocking on resident’s doors to ask them to take the recycling trigger test. The trigger test was a bespoke application where residents were shown pictures of 35 household items on an iPad to test their recycling knowledge. Residents had to swipe right if they thought an item was non-recyclable, and left if they thought it was recyclable (…remind you of anything?). They also answered a number of attitudinal questions about recycling. Nearly 600 residents took the trigger test.

After asking residents for their views on recycling, we found that the majority of people who took the trigger test...

• Were not sure what happened to their waste and recycling once it left their doorstep.
• If residents were unsure as to whether an item was recyclable or not, they were more likely to put it in their brown bin rather than recycle it.
• Households tended to be good at identifying the items that could be recycled in Sutton with the exception of aerosol cans and aluminium foil.
• Residents generally thought the following items could be recycled in Sutton when they can’t; plastic toothbrushes, DVD cases, plastic pots, bubble wrap and low-quality biscuit packaging.

In short, it appears that most people want to do the right thing when it comes to recycling, but that a lot of people are confused about whether some household items are recyclable or not. To try and tackle this, we have been sharing useful tips and recycling mythbusters on social media to help give people clarity on recycling in Sutton, but we want to know if it’s working. Please take two minutes of your time to complete this quick and easy survey about your recycling behaviour…