Consumers still vague about recycling options, new study shows

A campaign
to promote positive recycling behaviours has been launched in response to continuing
high levels of waste-stream contamination.

Developed in partnership by the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) and Planet Ark (with Commonwealth financial support), the campaign calls on all Australians to check the Australasian Recycling Label (ARL) every time they are at the bin so that they recycle their packaging right.

The campaign
launch was prompted in part by a recent study that revealed 81 percent of
Australians are not confident they recycle everything effectively.

The Community
Attitudes to Waste and Recycling study, conducted by Pact Group, also revealed
that of those Australians that identify as confident recyclers, one in five (22
percent) admitted that if they were unsure of whether an item could be recycled
or not, they would dispose of it in their kerbside recycling bin regardless.

This
phenomenon known as ‘’wish-cycling’’ is a major contributor to contamination in
the waste stream and valuable materials entering landfill unnecessarily.

The
Check It! Before You Chuck It campaign also aims to generate widespread
awareness of the ARL, an evidence-based on-pack label that clearly shows
Australians how to correctly recycle and dispose of packaging after use.

Check it! Before You Chuck It was developed using principles of behaviour change, and includes an animation featuring a cast of interactive characters who visually demonstrate the positive recycling behaviour of checking the ARL before binning so that it is disposed of correctly and recycled right.

The call to action is reinforced by a catchy song that accompanies the animation and is supported by a suite of creative assets for use on different platforms, including social media.