The incentives may not be the incentive: A field experiment in recycling of residential food waste

Recycling of residential food waste is urgently needed in cities worldwide to mitigate issues greenhouse gases, pollution, and resource wastage. Poor waste-sorting behaviour residents a key barrier: academics put forward general principles for change, but none resulting successful large-scale effective recycling programs. The complexity factors influencing this has historically made the development prescriptive theories – which can predict useful program interventions range situations- impossible. Here we present our sixth study research-through-design series develop theory behaviour. We used five compounds modern China (and controls) experimentally test impact suspending household ‘Incentives’ on tonnages, while varying ‘Social Influences’. results confirmed these as causal determinants, alongside ‘Habit’, was found well-formed after 12 months. relative determinant influences months 10–11 (months 14–23) were: habit 50% (80–90%); social (10–20%); incentives 12% (5%). Surprisingly, Influences’ dominated ‘Incentives’. Exploratory interviews indicated that Interpersonal Interactions comprised an important element In addition, 10–20% participants were inconvenienced by time-window imposed depositing their waste. These two deserve more careful consideration planners, testing Prescriptive Theory-building.