Less Than One In Three Young UK Consumers Recycle, Says Survey

A new survey commissioned by PlasticsEurope and RECOUP has revealed that there is a lack of awareness about recycling amongst the 18-24 age group, with less than a third of young people in the UK recycling plastics.

The survey had more than 4,100 participants from the UK, Germany and Poland, and it showed that 29% of young people in the UK, 24% in Germany and 18% in Poland recycled their plastics.

When it comes to the average population, less than 50% of consumers recycle all plastics after using them in the UK (45% in the UK, 51% in Germany, 35% in Poland). Interestingly, the main reason consumers do not recycle is that they are confused and ill-informed about what types of plastics are accepted for recycling, the survey concluded. In Poland, respondents cited other barriers, such as less willingness (17%) or inconvenience to recycle (17%).

Consumers Prefer Recycling

To the question of what plastic waste management system consumers are more likely to accept, ie recycling, energy recovery, landfilling; 93% of UK consumers prefer recycling over landfilling and energy recovery. This result was echoed in both Germany 95% and Poland 94%.

The study also shows that there is huge resistance among consumers to send plastic waste to landfills (Germany 70%, Poland 74% and the UK 82%). Views seem to be divided about waste-to-energy solutions. Consumers in Germany (63%) and the UK (70%) are generally positive about energy recovery, while the Polish population is evenly split: 46% pro and 45% against.

The survey concludes that over half of consumers in each country are eager to know more about what happens to plastics once they are collected (64% in the UK, 74% in Germany and 54% in Poland).

However, consumers are also less willing to pay more for the production of resource efficient products (43% in the UK, 28% in Germany and 30% in Poland).

When questioned about their awareness and understanding of environmental terms, there was a clear divide between the three countries. In the UK, there was a high level of awareness and understanding of sustainability (81%) and carbon footprint (88%). Only a small fraction of respondents had heard about resource efficiency (21%) and the circular economy (7%).

Stuart Foster, RECOUP Chief Executive Officer added: “It is important to understand how consumers in different countries view the resource management options available for plastics packaging, and there are some really interesting comparisons and trends in this new study. The challenge is now to implement these learnings into future consumer engagement campaigns such as Pledge4Plastics, to ensure they continue to be effective.”

You can download the survey report by clicking here, or on the image above

Privacy Overview
Circular Online

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is temporarily stored in your browser and helps our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

More information about our Cookie Policy

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly necessary cookies allow core website functionality and the website cannot be used properly without them. These cookies include session cookies and persistent cookies.

Session cookies keep track of your current visit and how you navigate the site. They only last for the duration of your visit and are deleted from your device when you close your browser.

Persistent cookies last after you’ve closed your Internet browser and enable our website to recognise you as a repeat visitor and remember your actions and preferences when you return.

Functional cookies

Third party cookies include performance cookies and targeting cookies.

Performance cookies collect information about how you use a website, e.g. which pages you go to most often, and if you get error messages from web pages. These cookies don’t collect information that identifies you personally as a visitor, although they might collect the IP address of the device you use to access the site.

Targeting cookies collect information about your browsing habits. They are usually placed by advertising networks such as Google. The cookies remember that you have visited a website and this information is shared with other organisations such as media publishers.

Keeping these cookies enabled helps us to improve our website and display content that is more relevant to you and your interests across the Google content network.

Send this to a friend