Why is it that although so many people in Britain claim to always recycle their plastic bottles at home, in practice this is not the case? That’s the question that Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) is going to attempt to answer in a new six-month study.
In its ongoing campaign to encourage more recycling at home (recycling rates in the UK are below the European average), CCE will observe 10 households in the UK and 10 households in France to try to find out more about how our recycling habits can be improved.
The announcement comes after a study by YouGov – and commissioned by CCE – found that despite 76% of Britons claiming that they regularly recycle, fewer actually do so in practice. The study will be supported by CCE’s own campaign ‘Recycle for the Future’, and it will be carried out along with the University of Exeter. Among other things, it will examine issues such as who is the most likely person to recycle in the home and whether the information on packaging makes a difference to recycling rates.
The information will then be shared with local authorities, businesses and NGOs to encourage a collective effort to seek out solutions that encourage more recycling.
Will it work? It is an certainly an interesting idea, and with the backing of Coca-Cola it really could help to find some answers as to why UK households are still behind when it comes to recycling. In six months from now we’ll find out, and hopefully the findings will help to improve recycling rates in the UK over the coming years.