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City University of Hong KongDesigning Hong Kong Internship ProgramResearch Result Announcement

Improving Recycling in Hong Kong:Think in the Other Way

15 April 2014

Co-hosted byThe project team of "Idea Incubator at CityU - Discovery and Innovation through Experiments in Public Policy" (6987013)

 Designing Hong Kong

 With the assistance ofCampus Development and Facilities Office (CDFO)

 UnderPOL3000 Professional Internship, The Department of Public Policy

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Agenda Policy Background – Waste Management

in HK Features Concept Behind the Research &

Interventions Interventions Implementation & Measurement Research Result Recommendations

Waste Management Policy In HK Use financial disincentives to change

behavior Plastic shopping bag levy (2005~) MSW charging pilot scheme (2014~)

May cause aversive side-effects

Non-woven Environmental Bags

Features

1. ‘Nudging’ ‘Nudging’ – A way to change people’s

behavior by using simple and easy interventions A way to alter people’s behavior in a

predictable way without forbidding any options or significantly changing their economic incentives (Thaler and Sunstein, 2008)

Use of norms Information provisions

1. ‘Nudging’ Employed by both US and UK

Government

UK Cabinet Office Behavioral Insights Team, a.k.a. ‘Nudge

Unit’ Applies insights from academic research

in behavioural economics and psychology to public policy and services

2. Experimental Method Common in science and medical research Rare in public policy studies in HK

Survey Comparative studies Low validity

Causal relation between the policy initiative and outcome can be examined Overt Behavior is observed

Concept Behind the Research & Interventions

We Believe Hong Kong people are aware of the

importance of waste recycling. They have proper knowledge and sense on waste separation.

Hong Kong people are willing to do something good to society. They are willing to do recycling spontaneously.

But why people dump recyclables into garbage bins?

1. They simply don’t know the location of the recycle bins

2. They are unconscious about the environmental consequences of their automatic behavior at the time they dispose their garbage

How can we ‘nudge’ people?1. Tell you the location of recycle

bins

2. Remind you to think before you dispose your rubbish

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Intervention

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Interventions

Street Sign Provide information of the direction and distance

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Interventions Posters with negative

information

Stop sign reminding people not to throw the recyclables into garbage bin

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Implementation & Measurement

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Implementation Implementation period:

11:00a.m.11/3/2014 – 11:00a.m.25/3/2014 Week 1 (11:00a.m. 11/3 – 11:00a.m.

18/3): Control period

Week 2 (11:00a.m. 18/3 – 11:00a.m. 25/3): Intervention

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Measurement Measurement Time:

Monday to Friday, at 11:30 and 18:00 Saturday, at 11:30

Targets The weight of

1. Total domestic waste2. Total recyclables3. Aluminum cans in recycle bins4. Plastic bottles in recycle bins5. Waste paper in recycle bins

The numbers of1. Aluminum cans in recycle bins2. Plastic bottles in recycle bins

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Research Result

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Result  Domesti

c Waste (g)

Total Recyclables (g)

Recycled Paper (g)

Recycled Metal (g)

Aluminum Cans (items)

Recycled Plastic (g)

Plastic Bottle (items)

Recycle Rate*

Week1 (Control)

319819 40737 24546 2548 98 13643 434 11.30%

Week2 (Intervention)

299712 50099 30637 3245 131 16217 514 14.32%

*Recycling rate formula: [Total Recyclables/(Domestic Waste + Total Recyclables)] x 100%

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The amount of total recyclables increased by 22.98%

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The numbers of aluminum cans increased by 34% while that of plastic bottles increased by almost 20%.

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The recycle rate increased by almost 30%

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Recommendation

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Recommendations1. Application in Street2. Application in Closed-gate Area3. Change Customers’ Behaviors4. Future Research

University Concourse

Street

Shopping Mall

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Application in Street Since the interventions are set alongside the

university concourse which emulating the parallel street in reality, it is suggested that the garbage bins and recycle bins can be placed alternately on the same side of a straight road

Hence, the interventions can be applied: 1) A street sign demonstrating the direction of the recycle

bin2) A picture with negatively-framed slogan 3) A stop sign reminding people not to throw the

recyclables into the garbage bin

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Application in Closed-gate Areas Any closed gate areas such as shopping malls

The setting of the interventions is quite similar to a shopping mall with people move, stay and rest within a closed area

It is suggested that the recycle bins can be placed alternately with the garbage bins within certain distance on the same floor

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Change Customers’ Behaviors

Some contaminated recyclables were found in the recycle bins such as used tissue was put inside a plastic bottle

It is suggested the shopping mall can provide a simple guideline to the customers

For example, a foam-board demonstrating the photos of contaminated recyclables can be placed next to the recycle bins

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Future Research The research can contribute to future research

Significances of the research:1) It found that Hong Kong people are willing to do recycle by

providing simple information to them such as the distance (in steps) between the garbage bin and recycle bin

2) The simple setting of the research can be imitated by other research groups easily

E.g. others can aim at finding something different from ours such as the optimal distance between the garbage bin and recycle bin which is accepted by people

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Thank you