The effect of plastic take-out container attributes on consumer recycling behavior

• Main Author: Madria, Wira F.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2019
• Subjects: Recycling (Waste, etc.); Plastic containers—Recycling; Consumer behavior; Environmental Studies
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/7024
• Institution: De La Salle University

The growing demand for take-out and delivery services creates a big opportunity for take-out food container manufacturers and a threat to the environment. Plastic take-out food containers and wrappers are one of the most prolific litters on the beaches. As recycling is one of the strategies to make the use of plastic take-out containers sustainable, this study aims to determine if the attributes of plastic take-out containers can help consumers recycle them properly. By integrating the determinants of recycling behavior from theories, this study was able to explore the reason for the effect of attributes to recycling behavior and define the conditions that would allow its effect to work.Perceived behavioral control, perception of usefulness, attitude towards recycling, and past recycling behavior were the determinants of recycling behavior that were postulated to have a role in the relationship of attributes and recycling behavior. Perceived behavioral control and perception of usefulness were hypothesized to mediate the effect of the plastic take-out container attributes to recycling behavior, whereas attitude and past behavior were hypothesized as moderators to that effect. The attributes that were tested in the study were edge, compartment, shape, and label. These were selected based on the concerns of consumers in recycling food packaging from the literature and consultation with manufacturers.Since recycling behavior is the main interest of this study, it is important to capture the actual recycling behavior of users towards plastic take-out containers. Thus, the main experiment is designed to imitate the take-out experience of consumers, which involves eating a take-out meal and then throwing the disposables in the bins. Before proceeding to the main experiment, a screening experiment was first conducted to screen out attributes that are irrelevant to recycling behavior. As a result, label attribute was screened out and was not included in the main experiment. In the main experiment, the recycling behavior of the 64 participants was observed and analyzed.From the results of the experiment, it was seen that the compartment and shape of the plastic take-out container are significant to the recycling behavior of consumers. Particularly, single compartment and octagonal shape are the attributes that elicit proper recycling behavior. Participants reported that single compartment containers were easier to use compared to double compartment whereas the octagonal shape allowed them to scoop out food much easily than rectangular shape. It was not clear as to how the single compartment and octagonal shape was able to elicit better recycling behavior based on the direct effect alone.Perceived behavioral control was divided into two aspects: procedural knowledge and recycling ability. The results show that only the procedural knowledge and perception of usefulness were significant in explaining the relationship between the plastic take-out container attributes and recycling behavior. The mediators gave clearer explanations of how the attributes affect recycling behavior. The single compartment and octagonal shape allowed fewer residues to be stuck in the container. This reduced the uncertainty of the participants whether the containers can be thrown in the recycling bin, thus increasing the procedural knowledge. Therefore, the participants were able to throw it in the recycling bin. The compartment and shape were also able to affect the perception of usefulness of the participants towards the containers thus affecting behavior. The participants had a low perception of usefulness for the double compartment container because they had a hard time eating on it due to small space, which made the participants recycle it less. For octagonal shape, the participants find it interesting and uncommon hence increasing the perception of usefulness. Because usefulness is associated with recycling, octagonal shaped containers are recycled better.Attitude and past behavior moderate the effect of the plastic take-out container attributes to recycling behavior. This means that the effect of the plastic take-out container attributes only affected the participants who have positive attitudes toward recycling or prior experience with sorting wastes. This was because there was a difference in the concerns of various groups. People with favorable attitudes towards recycling are generally more willing to recycle but can be hindered by uncertainty whether plastic take-out containers are recyclable, which the plastic take-out container attributes were able to address. The same concern is true for consumers with a more frequent sorting experience. On the other hand, people with less favorable attitudes or those who rarely sort their waste can be hindered by even the slightest obstacles in recycling, or have no intention to recycle at all, which other interventions may be able to address.