As a collective nation of Great Britain, we aspire towards an ambitious recycling target of 50% by 2020 however, as individual countries, we in England, Scotland and Wales also aspire to our tailored aspirations. Unfortunately each nation has either (i) fallen short of primary targets, or (ii) is challenged to meet future targets. Scotland has fallen shy of recycling 40% of waste by 2010 in line with the Zero Waste Plan, instead notching up a 37.8% result[1]. In Wales, debate rages on whether the country can build upon its current success rate of 45% in 2011, to meet the 52% target set for 2012-2013. And, in England, well, it seems the government has decided progressive targets are a folly and instead opts to aim solely for the national 50% mark by 2020, much to the dismay of opposition politicians and environmental lobbyists[2]. Despite this, England achieved 40.3% leading up-to 2011, an accomplishment upon the now defunct target of 40% by 2011.
Clearly, there is room for progress and opportunity. And, in looking at opportunities for furthering the push, we can find some intriguing findings in the national environmental attitude and behaviour reports. In 2007 and 2008, Westminster, Holyrood and the Welsh National Assembly published findings from surveys exploring the environmental attitudes and behaviours of citizens. The reports gave rise to some intriguing insights into where some problems – or opportunities – may lie. They showed that not only is there division between nations, but significant division between social classes too. In the United Kingdom, social classes are grouped from “I” to “V” according to the National Statistics Office[3] (as below), however in the devolved reports, A, B, C1, C2, D and E are used in place.
In England, 8 of 10 people questioned reported using recycling facilities. The paper found those in classes D and E to have participated “notably less than others”[4], stating a lack of knowledge of local recycle resources as a reason. In Scotland, 86% had utilised recycling facilities, with those in groups C2, D and E less engaged than participants in A, B and C1[5]. And in Wales, over 96% of participants utilised local resources with those earning £26,000 or more out-participating in environmental behaviours compared to those earning less than £12,840[6] (the welsh opted for income brackets in place of social groupings). Whilst the findings suggest that inconvenient service provision and a lack of adequate knowledge are the potential causes for differing participation, further findings cast doubt on this.
When we look at Individual environmental behaviours which do not rely upon local authority provided resources – like reusing carrier bags, home composting or donating to charity shops – we again see marked differences between social classes. In Scotland 10% of respondents within groups ABC1 never re-used shopping bags compared to 19% of respondents within the C2DE groupings. In a similar vein, 93% of Scottish ABC1 respondents gave to charity shops compared to 85% of respondents classed as C2DE. Again, these findings are replicated in England with 6 out of 10 respondents reusing carrier bags. From these, those within the AB groupings reported reusing bags more often than any other groupings. In regards to charity shop purchases or donations, 87% of respondents in England either “gave most things [they] no longer want to charity, family or friends” with those in lower incomes – or social grades D and E – more likely to buy from the shops. No such detail was available in the Welsh report.
Various non-social factors could be a cause, and are suggested in all reports; a lack of resources, a lack of awareness and, simply, a lack of interest for estates with lower incomes. Sociologists and policy makers face monumental challenges if they are to instil new – or further – environmental behaviours from citizens however the disparities between social classes cannot be ignored. So is targeted education the key to unlocking greater participation? Rewards – like recycling bins which provide financial returns like Rutland’s Tesco[7]? Or deterrents such as bin weighing as seen in Belfast[8] or, until recently, North Norfolk[9]? This is just one potential challenge facing policy makers keen to raise recycling rates, lest the UK and individual nations face a raft of fines for underperforming.
[4] DEFRA. (2007) “Report, questionnaire and data tables following Survey of Public Attitudes and Behaviours toward the Environment”
[5] Scottish Government. (2008) “Scottish Environmental Attitudes and Behaviours Survey”.
[6] National Statistics (2008) “Attitudes to the Environment in Wales, Results from the Living in Wales Survey 2007”
[7] http://www.recycle4rutland.org.uk/pp/pressrelease/pressdetail.asp?id=7603
[9] http://www.recycle.co.uk/news/673000.html
