Households appeared to base their food packaging disposal decisions on informal personal judgements and mental shortcuts. This often results in unreliable recycling practices.
Consumers often rely on tactile cues, with 'hard' plastics perceived as recyclable and 'soft' materials believed to be non-recyclable, which perpetuates misconceptions.
Judgements about recyclability are subjective and vary widely between households, contributing to wishcycling, where non-recyclables are placed in recycling bins.
The contamination from wishcycling actually reduces the efficiency of household recycling efforts, complicating waste management processes across councils.
Collection
[
|
...
]