EnviroCommsInsightThoughtleadershipfortheInternationalWasteManagementCommunity

BEHAVIOURCHANGE

STRENGTHENINGTHEWEAKLINKINBUILDINGACIRCULARECONOMY

StephenBates

EnviroCommsInsightThoughtleadershipfortheInternationalWasteManagementCommunity ABSTRACTInanidealworld,therewouldbenoneedforsourceseparationofwaste.Instead,residentswoulduseasingle bin for all waste with effort, energy and investment directed towards the resources andtechnology needed to collect this waste, separate it, clean it and recycle it. It is after all, the wastemanagement industry that knows implicitlywhat can and can’t be recycled,why andhow. It has theknowledgeandskillstoturnrubbishintoacommodityandhowtoensureitisofthehighestqualitytoattract the highest price and deliver the greatest environmental benefits. Why entrust such animportantpartoftheprocessto‘amateurs’–thepublic-andoften,unwillingonesatthat?Such a utopian statemaywell be realised in years to come but for the foreseeable future, technicallimitations,politics,policyandfunding(tonameafew)createbarrierstosuchopportunities.Atpresent,source separation is the only viable option to deliver a sustainable, effective and financially soundcirculareconomyatlocalandnationallevelsandwiththis,comestheneedtoeducatethepublicaboutwhattheyneedtobedoingandencouragethemtodoso.Thefurtherawayfromasinglebincollectiona recycling system goes, the greater the need to engage with those whose actions will ultimatelydeterminethesuccessofthesenewsystems;thepublic.Thereexiststoday,clearcorrelationbetweenthoseareasdeliveringthehighestlevelsofrecyclingandthoseareaswhereconsiderationto,andinvestmentinbehaviourchangeisthegreatest.Themeansof achievingbehavioural changeareproportionally, amongst the cheapest componentsofmodernwastemanagementbutarguably,themostcriticalelementinensuringsuccess.Youcaninvestinthelatestadvancedtreatmenttechnology,smartnewbinsandafleetofthelatestcollectionvehiclesbutifpeopledon’tusetheservicesprovidedproperly,allthatinvestmentwillatbest,neverachieveitsfullpotentialandatworst,bewasted.ThispaperprovidesanoverviewofthestrategicpositionofBehaviourChangeplanninginmodernwastemanagement and seeks to empower waste managers to firstly gain financial support to the levelrequiredto implementBehaviourChangestrategiesandthetacticsneededtodeliver themaswellastheabilitytomakebetteruseofthatfundinganddeliverthemaximumlevelofparticipationacrosstheirregions.The insight fromwhich thispaperhasbeenwrittenhasbeendrawn fromexperiencesboth in theUKand Internationally including low-incomeand emerging economic regions and as such, applies to anylocationaroundtheworld.

StephenBates

EnviroCommsInsightThoughtleadershipfortheInternationalWasteManagementCommunity 1. STRATEGICBEHAVIOURALCHANGE

DefiningtheroleofBehaviouralChange

It can be argued that the term Behavioural Change has become interchangeable with other actionsbelieved to mean or achieve the same thing. Awareness, education, public outreach, stakeholderengagement,communicationsandmanymorebesides,areallusedinthesamecontext,despitethemdoingverydifferent things inverydifferentways. It is important toestablishanunderstandingof theessenceofbehavioural change; thatof itbeing thecore strategicobjectivewhenwastemanagementrequiresthepublictoactdifferentlyinhowitdealswithrubbish.Behaviour change is a strategy and its inclusion in the early development of waste managementplanningcanyieldbothoperationalandcostbenefits;• The need for the tactical communication methods needed to deliver behavioural change are

identified further upstream in the planning process and the budgets needed to deploy themidentified earlier. This provides the opportunity to reconsider complex services if the budget orability tocommunicate them isnotavailable. Itwouldbeawasteof timeandmoneytodeliveraschemethatfailstorealiseitspotentialifthereisnomoneyavailabletoeducatethemarketonhowtouseitandencouragethemtodoso.

Fig1:Thefurtherawayfromasimple,singlebinsystem,thegreatertheneedforcommunicationstostimulatebehaviouralchange.Ifthebudgetneededisnotavailable,thenthecomplexityofthesystemshouldbeadjustedtofitthebudgetthatis

likelytobeavailable• All toooften,wastestrategiesandsystemsaredeveloped in isolationfromthe influencingfactors

that can impact on their success, most notably consideration of the ability for the public toparticipate.When this happens, awareness campaigns are developed that have to try to ‘sell’ asystem to themarket first, rather than simplyencouragediligentparticipation. That takes longer,costsmoreandsuccessislesscertainsothefinancialandpoliticalrisksarehigher.

EnviroCommsInsightThoughtleadershipfortheInternationalWasteManagementCommunity

Byembracingbehaviouralchangeasakeystrategicobjectiveeventothepointofplacingthisaheadof the development ofwaste strategies,waste policies can be developed that stand the greatestchanceofsuccesswithouttheneedforoverlyonerouscommunicationbudgets.

Keyaction• Participatoryplanning,beitforanentirelynewcollectionsystemoradaptationofanexisting

system,shouldbeundertakenwithgreaterconsiderationtotheabilityofthepublictoparticipateandwhatisrequiredtostimulatethatparticipation.Systemsarethusdesignedthatsuitthemarket(thepublic)notjusttheoperationalrequirements.

Fig2:Complexcontainmentsystemssuchasthisnine-containerexamplefromNewcastle-Under-LymeintheUKmayprovideoperationaladvantagestothelogisticsofwastemanagementbutarequestionableastotheirabilitytocapturethehighest

levelsofrecyclingandmaintainresidentsatisfactionofcouncilservices.

EnviroCommsInsightThoughtleadershipfortheInternationalWasteManagementCommunity 2. THEFOURCOMMONFACTORSOFBEHAVIOURALCHANGEFortheprovisionofwasteservices, it isoftensaidthatthereexistsno ‘one-size-fits-all-solution’.Eachcountry, region, community, street and home, has varying and unique requirements that createenormouschallengeswhenplanningwhathasalwaystoberegionally,alargelyhomogenousservice.

Withcommunications,atatacticallevel,thesameistrue.Themessagesthatwillstimulatethemarketinonepartof townwillbedifferent toanotherandconventionalmarketingwisdomshows themoretargeted and relevant a campaign to the target audience, themoreeffective itwill be.At a strategiclevelthough,itispossibletoapplysomehomogeneitybyidentifyingfourcommon,socialdenominatorsthatapplyinrelationtobehaviouralchange,regardlessofdemographics,locationoranyotheracceptedsocialdifferentiators.Theseare:

1. Peoplearelazy2. Peopledonotlikechange3. Peopledonottrustgovernment4. Peoplewanttoimprovetheirlives.

Letusexploreeachofthesefurther.PeoplearelazyHumanbeingsareprogrammedtopreserveenergy.Iftherearetwooptionsofattainingthesamegoalwithonebeingslightlyeasier thantheother, itwillalwaysbetheeasiestoptionthat’s taken.Weseethisbeingcapitalisedoninthecommercialsectorandagoodexampleiscarinsurance.Each year, shortly before a policy is due for renewal, the insurance company will write to thepolicyholderadvisingoftherenewaldateandaquotationforafurther12monthscover.Thisletterwillsay that unless the company hears otherwise, then the policy will be renewed automatically andpayment recovered in the samewayaspreviousyears.Thus, inorder for that company to retain thebusinessofthecustomer,thecustomerhastodopreciselynothing.In awaste context, it is important to understand this ‘laziness’ in behavioural change strategies. Forexample,Figure3showsarecyclingbininNicosia,Cyprus.Itcontainsadetailedgraphicofwhatcanandcan’tbeputin.However,despitethis,thereweresignificantproblemswithcontamination.Thereasonwas thatwhilst local residentsweremadeawareof thebins and the recycling service, itwasn’tuntilthey approached the bins that they knew what materials were accepted. Very few people wouldthereforebeprepared to standbeside the containers, particularlyonhotdays (whichareplentiful inCyprus),sortingtheirwasteandinstead,simplyplacedallwasteinonebinorbesidesthem.Informationneedstobeprovidedbeforepeoplearrivedatthebins.Asimpleleafletdeliveredtohomesexplainingthesystemwouldbeaverycheapwaytosolveaveryexpensiveproblem.

EnviroCommsInsightThoughtleadershipfortheInternationalWasteManagementCommunity

Fig3.ArecyclingbininCypruscontaininginformationaboutwhatthebincanbeusedforbutfewpeoplewouldbepreparedtostandbythebintosortthroughtheirrubbish.Informationneedstobegivensopeoplecanactuponitat

thepointofgeneration.

Even the highest recycling performing authorities are still able to capture more material byunderstandingthe“lazyphenomenon”,highlightedwithwhatcanbereferredtoasthe‘BathroomBinSyndrome’. Households typically use a number of smaller bins around the home, lined with an oldcarrierbagthatgetsremovedwhenfull,tiedandplacedintotherubbishbin,regardlessofitscontent.Additionaleffortisrequiredtore-sortthewasteintorecyclingstreamsandthethinking“it’sonlycoupleofshampoobottles”oftenapplies.Asimpleadvertisingcampaigncanhaveagreatimpactonpeople’sthinkingtoshiftbehaviourinthisrespect.Tackling the issue of laziness is a particular challenge in high-rise andmultiple occupancy propertieswherepeoplearerequiredtotaketheirrecyclingtocommunalbins.In2010,binmanufacturer,TaylorBins undertook research1 under the direction of Professor James Baird at the Caledonian ResearchCentre,partofGlasgowCaledonianUniversity,amongst residents inNorthLanarkshire, to thrownewlightonthepotentialofincreasingrecyclingyieldsinhighandlowriseflats.Amongsttheoutcomesofthisresearchwasthe linkbetweenthedesignofthebins,theirplacement intermsofconveniencetoresidentsandcommunicationindrivinguprecycling.Theoutcomesofthetrialsthatformedpartofthestudywasthat67.5%begantorecyclecomparedtoalmostzeropriortotheactionsbeingtaken.Itcanbesuggestedthattoachievebehaviouralchange,onemustaimtomakethedesiredbehaviourtheeasiestoption;theactionthatrequirestheleasteffort.Keyactions

• Considerschemesintheeyesofthepublic,notfromawastemanager’sperspective.Areyouprovidingaschemethatrequirestheleasteffortpossible?

1TakingRecyclingtoanewLevel.TaylorBins2010.http://taylorbins.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/High-Rise-Report.pdf

EnviroCommsInsightThoughtleadershipfortheInternationalWasteManagementCommunity

• Considerwhyparticipationandcaptureratesarepoorinrelationtotheeffortrequiredofthepopulation.Areyousimplyaskingtoomuchofpeople?

• Inacceptingthatsourceseparationrequiresadditionaleffort,considerhowyoucanrepositionthealternative(nonparticipation)torequireevengreatereffort.Makenon-participationmoredifficultthanparticipation.

PeopledonotlikechangeHuman beings are creatures of habit, they take great comfort in the status quo and can becomeexceptionally vociferous should this ever be challenged. As an example, consider the level of publicanger when something as socially inconsequential as a confectionary brand changing its name (OpalFruits to Starburst, Marathon to Snickers, etc.). Pressure groups are formed, MPs are lobbied andcampaignsruntomustersupport.BehaviouralChange is sometimes referred toasChangeManagement forwhichagreatmanymodelsexist, the most common being the Kübler-Ross model2. Originally titled 'The 5 Stages of ReceivingCatastrophicNews'thesestagesare:Denial,Anger,Bargaining,DepressionandAcceptance.Weall go through this (or a similar) processnumerous timesaday.Adead carbattery, the lossof aparkingspace,awrongphonenumber,thelossofapetoranewwastecollectionsystem.Onthelatter,letusputthisintothecontextofacouncilintroducinganewmaterialstreamforrecycling(foodwaste):

Denial “There’snowayI’mhavingaslopbucketinthehouse!”

Anger “Bloodycouncil!–whyamIdoingtheworkIpaythemtodo?”

Bargaining “OK,I’llgiveitagobutonlydryfood.I’mnothavingsmelly leftoversgointhebin”

Depression “Thisisridiculous–likeIhaven’tgotenoughtodo!”

Acceptance “Well,it’snottoobadonceyougetusedtoit”.

Casestudy:In 2015, the LondonBorough of Bexley announced that to save the councilmoney, the gardenwastecollection service then provided as part of the full waste and recycling package to all 77,000 homeswouldbewithdrawn.Forthosewishingtoretainthisservice,aone-offpaymentfollowedbyanannualsubscription,bothmodestamounts,wasrequired.Theargumentwasthatonlyabout50%ofhouseholdsactually used the garden waste service so those households not using the service were effectivelysubsidising the services being used by others. Whilst the basis of this change had merit, the councilrecognisedthatmanypeoplewouldobjecttohavingtopayforaservicepreviouslyprovidedatnoextracost.Thecouncilfirstannouncedthischangethroughaleafletdeliveredtoallaffectedhomesandsupportedthiswithateamofdoorstepadvisors,visitinghouseholdstoexplainthearrangementsinmoredetailandencouragesubscriptions.Thetimingofthesetwocomponentsofoutreachinitiallyrunsothatonthefirstday,theleafletwouldarriveandonthedayfollowing,theAdvisorsbegantocallonhouseholds,withthe

2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kübler-Ross_model

EnviroCommsInsightThoughtleadershipfortheInternationalWasteManagementCommunity advisorsfollowingtheroutesofleafletdistribution.Duringthefirstfewdaysofthecampaign,thetimebetween the leaflet landing and an Advisor knocking was no more than one or two days and theresponsefrompeoplewashighlynegative,insomecases,peoplewereveryangry.Approximately75%ofpeopleduringthisperiodresponded‘Verynegatively’tochange.However,astheprojectprogressed,theleafletdistributioncontinuedatpacefasterthantheDoorstepAdvisorssocreatingagreaterperiodoftimebetweenreceiptoftheleafletandanAdvisorcalling.Thegreaterthisperiodoftime,thelessangryandnegativepeoplewerewhenspeakingwithanAdvisor.Asthecampaigndrewtoaclose,thenumberofpeoplerecordedasbeing“Verynegative”hadfallentolessthan20%.A sample of the houses visited at the beginning of the campaignwhere very high levels of negativitywere recordedwere re-visited.Theoutcomeof this showedthat theirattitudeshadchangedsince thefirstcallwitharound20%beingrecordedasbeing“verynegative”.

ThisisanexampleoftheGriefCycleinaction.Theearlycallsweremadeclosetothepointatwhichtheinformationwasfirstreceivedsopeoplewereinthe‘denial’and‘anger’stage,whichisevidencedinthehigh levelsofnegativity.However,once some timehadpassed,peoplehadbecomeused to the ideaandprogressed through the ‘bargaining’and ‘depression’ stageso thatby the timeanAdvisorcalled,theyweremuchmorereadyandwillingtoacceptthechange.A key task of behavioural change communications is to deal with denial, anger, bargaining anddepressionbeforeaschemeisintroducedsothatbythetimeoflaunch,peoplearereadytoacceptit.It’salso importantunderstandthereasonswhypeoplemaybeaversetoacceptingchangeasthiscanthenbeusedtodriveelementsofthecommunicationprocessthatovercometheseissuesmuchearlieron.

Keyactions• Understandthatdifferentpeoplereactdifferentlytochangebutthatallpeoplewillreact.• Establishthereasonswhytheremaybearesistancetochangeasearlyaspossible.Thiswillenable

themessagestobeadaptedtodealwiththisandleadtoamorerapidacceptanceofnewsystems.• Considercarefullyhowyouusetheword‘change’.‘Evolution’or‘development’canmeanthesame

thingbutconveysomethingfarmoreprogressiveandpositiveandsomethingthatmorepeoplearewillingtobepartof.

PeopledonottrustthegovernmentAccordingtoasurveyconductedbyEdelmanTrustin2012across25countries,just43%ofpeoplehavetrust in thosewhogovern them. That figure rose in20143 to48%driven largelyby improvements inIndia’s governance and similar improvements in Asia and parts of Europe. In the UK, according to asurveycarriedoutbyIpsosMori4in2013,just11%ofBritonstrustedthenationalGovernment;afigurethathasremainedaconstantformanyyearsandshowsthisnottobeaparty-politicalissue.Wasteistheonegovernmentservicethatimpactsdirectlyoneverysingleperson,everyday.Becauseofthis theefficiencyandqualityofwasteservicesaredirectlycorrelatedtotheperceivedefficiencyand

3 http://www.scribd.com/doc/252750985/2015-Edelman-Trust-Barometer-Executive-Summary 4 http://www.theguardian.com/local-government-network/2013/mar/01/people-trust-local-government

EnviroCommsInsightThoughtleadershipfortheInternationalWasteManagementCommunity qualityofthecouncilthatisprovidingit.Hence,whilstwastemanagementmaynotbethebiggestvote-winner,ithasthecapacitytobecomeadefinitevote-looser.Behaviouralchangeandthecommunicationsusedtobringaboutchangecanhaveaprofoundeffectonpeople’s attitudes towards local politics. If thepublic are awareofwhy recycling schemeshavebeenintroduced, know how to use them, are provided with the appropriate means to participate andthankedfordoingso,thentheyremaincontentedandretainasensethatthepolicyandpoliticsbehinditaregood.Thishassignificant,positiveknock-oneffectswhenthecouncilseekstobringaboutchangesinotherareasoflocallife.Itwouldnotbeinappropriatetoconsideralocalwasteandrecyclingservicetobeabarometerforpoliticsandgovernanceatalocalandregionallevel.Considerthefollowingtwostatementsinthisrespect.

“ThecouncilprovideabrilliantrecyclingservicesoIhaveeveryfaithinthem”

“Thecouncilcan’tevenprovideadecentrecyclingservicesowhywouldIthinktheycouldmanageanythingelse?”

Ifweacceptthatallrecyclingandwastecollectionschemesaregood,thentheonlyissuewheretheyareconsidered as being poor is one of perception and perception can only be addressed with strongerconsiderationgiventobehaviouralchangeandthecommunicationneededtoachievechange.In many parts of the world, governments (national and regional) have sough to de-couple wastemanagementfromgovernmentcontrolandbydefault,governmentresponsibility.Forexample,inBaku,Azerbaijan, the government established a Joint Stock Company called Tamiz Shahar to manage allaspectsofthecity’swasteservicesfromcollectiontodisposalandtreatment.Thecompany’spresenceishighlyvisibleandhasbeensuccessfulinpositioningthecompanyasthebodyresponsibleforwasteinthe city. This has only worked because the quality of services that Tamiz Shahar provide are a vastimprovementon thosepreviouslyprovideddirectlyby themunicipalworksdepartment (even thoughtheyare,operationallyspeaking,effectivelythesame).Ifthequalityofserviceweretodrop,thenbothTamiz Shahar and theGovernmentwould suffer reputational damageas people still see theultimateresponsibilityforwasteandsanitationrestingwiththem.Youcanneverfullyde-couplethetwo.Indevelopedpartsof theworld, it is commonto findprivate sectorwastecompaniesdelivering localwaste and recycling collection services and many are also responsible for local waste relatedcommunications. Despite high visibility of the company name on the side of vehicles and containedwithin public literature, research into the perception of who is collecting and treating waste showsconsistentlythatthepublicstillconsiderittobethelocalcouncil.Evenwhenprivatesectorcompaniesprovideabrilliantservice,aparadoxexistsinthatthegovernmentisthenunabletotakefullcreditforthisandsounabletobenefitpolitically.Keyactions

• Acceptthatultimateresponsibilityfortheprovisionofwasteserviceswillalwaysrestwithgovernment.

• Understandthepoliticallandscapeandconsiderwhateffectthiswillhaveonpeople’sattitudes

tonewschemesorchangestoexistingschemes

EnviroCommsInsightThoughtleadershipfortheInternationalWasteManagementCommunity

• Ensurethatelectedmembersareawareoftheramificationsofreducedorpoorlydeployedcommunicationsinrelationtopoliticalstability

PeoplewanttoimprovetheirlivesHumanevolutionismarkedbytheconstantdesirefor improvement. Individually,wewanttoimproveourlives–bebettereducated,wealthier,healthier,livelonger,behappier,getabetterjob.Collectively,wewant to be safer,more united, andmore stable.Wewant cleaner air to breathe;more space toplay……thelistisendless.Improvements towastemanagementand increased recycling canpositively impactonmanyof theseindividualandsocialdesiresandas such,behavioral changeshouldbepositioned in suchawayas tofacilitateoneormoreoftheselife-improvementgoalsandusetheseasthecore,drivingfoundationsinthecommunicationactivities.Akeychallengehereisthattherangeofdesiredimprovementscanvaryconsiderably.Whatpeopleinawealthypartofatownmayconsiderbeingworthyaspirationaldesiresaregoingtobeverydifferenttothoselivinginlower-incomeareas.Findingcommonaspirationsthatcanbelinkedtobehaviourchangesurroundingwasteandrecyclingcanyieldexceptionalresults.Casestudy:The London Borough of Hounslow is a district to the west of the Capital. It is a highly diverse area,ethnically and challenging from a waste management perspective with many different types ofpropertiesandahightransientpopulation.In2011,likemanylocalauthoritiesacrossEurope,Hounslowwerefacingmajorcutsinpublicspendingwhichthepopulationwereworriedwouldimpactonservicesthatmanyreliedupon.WastedisposalcostsinLondonareamongstthehighestinEuropesorecyclingisawayofreducingcoststo the council, savings that can reduceand in some cases removealtogether, the impacts that publicspending cuts would have on other key council services. The challenge for Hounslow was that therecyclingsystemsprovidedcouldnotbechangedsoinordertodriveuprecycling,communicationswereneededtoencouragepeopletorecyclemore.Up until this point, almost all recycling awareness campaigns in the UK had focused upon theenvironmental benefits of recycling as amotivational tool to domore. However, with the worseningeconomicclimateatthetime,thiswashavinglesseffect.Hounslowinvestedinacampaignthatlinkedrecycling to cost savings and the positive effect this has on services such as libraries, parks andeducation.The outcome lead to the largest increase in recycling across the borough that equated to an annualsavingofover£170,000.

EnviroCommsInsightThoughtleadershipfortheInternationalWasteManagementCommunity

Fig4.AnadvertfromtheLondonBoroughofHounslowcampaignthatlinkedrecyclingwiththepositiveimpactsthecostsavinghasonothercouncilservices.

Keyactions

• Considerhowpeopleinthetargetareawanttoimprovetheirlivesandthenconsiderhowthewasteandrecyclingservicesprovidedcancontributetothataim.Thenincorporatethisintothecommunications.

EnviroCommsInsightThoughtleadershipfortheInternationalWasteManagementCommunity 3.THEBEHAVIOURALCHANGECURVEBehaviouralchangeisnotasingle-stepprocessbutapathalongwhichindividualstraveltoarriveattherequired behaviour. Understanding this and knowing where people are on this path is critical todevelopingcommunicationsthatareappropriatelytargetedcontainingtherightmessagethatsignpostthecorrectrouteforward.WecandefinethisastheBehaviouralChangeCurvewiththreekeysections:

Behaviouralchange–thefirststeptowardsthedesiredbehaviour

Behaviouraldevelopment–movingfurthertowardsthedesiredbehaviour

Behaviouralmaintenance–arrivingandthenmaintainingthedesiredbehaviour

Let’slookatanexampleofthisinthecontextofsomeonegivingupsmoking:

Behaviouralchange–Cutdownthenumberofcigarettessmoked

Behaviouraldevelopment–Cutdownfurther,usenicotinereplacementtherapies

Behaviouralmaintenance–Stopsmokingandbecomeanon-smoker

Wecanapplythisalsotoawastemanagementscenario,lookingattheintroductionofsource-separatedrecycling;

Behaviouralchange–Startrecyclingafewthings

Behaviouraldevelopment–Recyclemore,morefrequently

Behaviouralmaintenance–Recycleasmuchaspossibleasoftenaspossible

Fig5:TheBehaviouralChangeCurve

EnviroCommsInsightThoughtleadershipfortheInternationalWasteManagementCommunity Thebiggestchallenge isstimulatingthefirststep; that initialbehaviourchange.Oncethis isachieved,theprocessbecomesonefocuseduponnudgingpeoplefurtheralongthecurvetothepointwheretheirbehaviourreachesthedesired levelatwhichpoint,ongoingsupportandencouragement isneededtomaintainthatbehaviourpermanently.

Fromacommunicationsandengagementperspective, thegreatest required intensityand thuscost isrequired toovercomechangeaversion tostimulate that initialbehaviourchange.Once thathasbeenachieved, intensity and costs reducebut it is important tonote thatneither canbe totally dispensedwith.

Itisacommontoconsiderthatwhenthedesiredbehaviourhasbeenachieved,nofurtherengagementoroutreachisrequired.Thisisrarelythecase.ConsiderCoca-Cola;theworld’smostrecognisablebrandthathasbeenaroundforover100years.Despite itsfamiliarity,thecompanycontinuestospendover$1billionannuallyadvertisingit.Whentheyhavetriedtoreducethisspend,salessuffer.

Lookingatthesmokingexample,weknowthatforsmokingcessation,maintainingcessationisabiggerchallenge than stopping smoking in the first place. Figurespublishedby the Smoking Toolkit Study inApril2015showedthat inEngland, just18.5%ofpeoplewhoquitsmokingremainednon-smokers forthe12monthsfollowingcessation.5

We see the same trends in recycling. Following the initial introduction of new kerbside recyclingservices, recycling rates increase rapidly as these new services are enthusiastically embraced by thepopulation,freshwiththeinformationneededtorecycleproperly.Astimepassesthough,someofthatinformationisforgottenandtheever-changingprioritiesofday-to-daylife,coupledwiththe‘lazyfactor’discussedearlier,oftenleadstothequantityandqualityofrecyclingdroppinginthemonthsandyearsfollowingintroduction.

It is therefore important tomaintaincommunicationwith residentsonapermanentbasis,not justattheoutsetofanewservice.

Knowingwherepeopleareonthebehaviouralchangecurvehastwodistinctbenefits:

1. Communicationscanbebettertailoredwithamessageappropriatetowherepeopleareonthecurveandsodelivergreaterimpactandoutcomes.

2. Communicationscanbemoreaccuratelytargetedandsodeliverbettervalueandcostsavings

Onthesecondpoint,youcanseefromthegraphbelowthatthecostofstimulatingbehaviouralchangeisgreatestattheverybeginningofthebehaviouralchangecurveandreducesasbehaviourdrawsclosertothedesiredbehaviour.However,whenbehaviorlevelsdrop,thelineofthecurvereversesbackoveritsoriginalpathsothecostsincreasetobringbehaviourbackinline.Assuch,investmentinbehaviouralmaintenanceisessentialtoavoidthis.

5 http://www.smokinginengland.info/latest-statistics/

EnviroCommsInsightThoughtleadershipfortheInternationalWasteManagementCommunity

Fig6:TheBehaviouralChangeCurveshowingthecomparativecostleveltostimulateandsupporteachphaseofchange

Forcommunicationstoworkeffectively instimulatingandsupportingtheprogressionofpeoplealongthebehaviouralchangecurve,theremustberecognitionthatthewayinwhichchangeiscommunicatedneeds tochangedependingupon the stagepeopleareon thecurve.Forexample, to stimulate initialchange,gaining localpresscoverage,advertisingand leafletdistributionmightbeeffectivebutduringthedevelopmentphase,itmaybebettertoengagedirectlywithpeoplethroughdoorstepvisits.

There aremany tools available to achieve behaviouralmaintenance.One that has emerged over thepast 10 years in the US, UK, Europe and parts of the Middle East is the use of incentive schemes,rewarding households for recycling through the allocation of points that can be spent on numerousgoodsandservices,fundedthroughtheincreasedrevenuesgainedthroughthesaleofrecyclateand/orthesavingsindisposalcosts.These,thoughcanbecomplexinitiativestosetupandmanageandoften,asimpleletterofthankstohouseholdswithdetailsontheamountthathasbeenrecycledissufficienttokeeppeoplerecycling.

Keyactions

• Considerwherepeopleareonthebehaviouralchangecurveandtailorandtargetcommunicationsaccordingly.

• Recognisethatdifferentpeoplewillbeatdifferentpositionsonthecurveatanyonetime.• Continuetoinvestincommunicationstosupportbehaviouralchangemaintenance.

EnviroCommsInsightThoughtleadershipfortheInternationalWasteManagementCommunity 4.SUMMARYIfweweretodrawoneprimaryconclusiontothedissectionofbehaviouralchangestrategiesitwouldbetheabsoluteneedtosegmentthetargetpopulation.Doingsoenablestheabilitytopositionthesesegments on the behavioral change curve so that communications can be better tailored to achievebetterresults.Thisalsomeansthatmorecanbeachievedwithlessinvestment.InvestmentinbehaviourchangeisitselfamajorsubjectandonethatwillbecoveredinaseparatepaperdueforpublicationinSpring2016.Inthemeantime,wecanconcludethispaperwiththefollowingkeypoints• Wasteisafundamentalpartofeverydaylifeforeveryone.Itsubiquitymeansthatitcanbecome

“invisible”intermsofitsoverallimpactandtherole(orcivicduty)oftheindividualuponitsmanagement.

• Peoplewillonlyadapttoneworchangingrequirementsiftheyareawareofthereasons,theramificationofnon-complianceandgiventhemeanstochange(bothcognitiveandphysical).

• Behaviouralchangeneedstoidentifythemotivationsandhabitdriversthatneedtobeunderstoodandaccessedinordertobringaboutapositiveshiftinactions(the4socialcommondenominators).

• Acommonmistakeistoviewbehaviouralchangeassimplyraisingawareness.Itisastrategictool,notatacticalone.Itisanessentialelementintheoverallplanningprocessthatneedstobedeployedattheearlieststagepossible.

• Behaviouralchangeisnotasinglestepprocessbutapaththroughwhichpeopletravelandapaththatneedsconstantguidanceandsupport,deliveredthroughcommunications.

• Behaviouralchangestrategydrivestacticaldelivery(advertising,publicoutreachengagement,etc.).Thisrequiresappropriatebudgetallocationthatiscorrelatedtotheextentofthechangerequired.Themorecomplexthesystemsthatpeoplearerequiredtouse,thegreatertheextentoftacticalcommunicationrequiredandthuscost.

• Recognisethatcommunicationsbudgetisaninvestment,notacost.Areductionincommunicationactivityduetobudgetaryconstraintsisafalseeconomy,whichwillleadtomuchhighercostsinthemediumtolongterm.

AboutEnviroCommsInsightEnviroComms Insight is a thought leadership programme offered by EnviroComms, one of theworld’s leading providers ofbehaviouralchangecommunicationsforthewasteandresourcerecoverysector.Workinggloballyacrossmanyvaryingregionsenables us to gain first hand experience of how behaviour change can best be used to achieve social gains and economicimprovements.Ouraimistosharethislearningandexperiencewiththewider,globalwastemanagementcommunitythroughpublishedpapersavailableonourwebsite,conferenceparticipationandcommissionedstudies.AbouttheAuthorStephenBates isoneof theworld’s leadingexpertsonbehavioural change forwastemanagementand thedevelopmentofcommunications needed to stimulate change. In theUK, he hasworkedwith over 130 local authorities and is the strategicarchitect behind some of the most effective campaigns and initiatives of their type. Internationally, he has worked forgovernmentsanddonor institutions inover20countries,particularly in transitioneconomic regions.He isamemberof theCollaborativeWorkingGroupforSolidWasteManagement inLowIncomeandDevelopingEconomicRegionsandisaprolificspeakeronthesubjectofBehaviouralChangeinWasteManagement.

EnviroCommsInsightThoughtleadershipfortheInternationalWasteManagementCommunity ContactStephenBatesDirector:EnvironmentalCommunicationsConsultantsLtd(EnviroComms)3TheCapricornCentreCranesFarmRoadBasildonEssexSS143JAUKT:+44(0)1268461210M:+44(0)7970717041F:+44(0)1268271859S:sbenvirocommsE:stephenb@envirocomms.comW:www.envirocomms.com