Trash or Recycle? How Product Distortion Leads to Categorization Error During Disposal

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Environment and Behavior

Volume

48

Issue

7

Publisher

Sage Publications, Inc.

Publication Date

3-22-2015

First Page

966

Last Page

985

Abstract

Much of what ends up in our landfills is recyclable material, exposing the urgent need to understand the psychological processes behind recycling behavior. Results from four studies suggest that consumers often trash well-known recyclable products due to the product being erroneously categorized as trash after it has been distorted (e.g., paper after it has been cut, torn, or crumpled). However, this categorization error can be somewhat mitigated by the presence of signage depicting the different distorted forms the recyclable product can take. Through prompting, consumers are able to correctly categorize a recyclable product when disposing of it, regardless of the level of distortion. These results provide an explanation for, and potential solution to, the issue of recyclable materials making their way into our landfills every day.

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