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How Consumers Perceive Different Materials, Packaging, and Waste: a Plastic-focused Analysis
Summary
Austrian researchers found that people generally view plastic as less valuable, natural, and "good" than glass, paper, or metal—even though they admit it's more convenient to use. This gap between negative feelings toward plastic and its practical benefits may explain why so much plastic still isn't recycled properly, since people who see something as "unnecessary waste" are less motivated to sort and recycle it. Closing this perception gap through better education and smarter packaging design could help reduce the amount of plastic that ends up polluting the environment (and eventually breaking down into microplastics that enter our food and water).
Plastic pollution is a topic that increasingly concerns consumers all over the world. Policymakers and industry practitioners are also called upon to work on solutions. One strategy to fight those amounts of plastic is recycling, which can only be achieved if consumers are convinced of the value and importance of plastic. Two online questionnaires with consumers were conducted in Austria, where separate collection infrastructure is well established, but recycling targets for plastic packaging are still unsatisfactory. The perception of the material itself, the material as waste, and the material as packaging was investigated. Results show that plastic is perceived as significantly worse than other materials (i.e. glass, paper, and metal) in various dimensions (perception as valuable, good, important, and natural). However, when asked if it is convenient, plastic comes close to the good evaluation of the other materials. The overall negative perception was also supplemented by participants' free associations, whereby an apparent dissonance between glass and plastic was identified. While plastic was associated with an overwhelming amount of waste and as "unnecessary," glass creates more ambivalent associations: although the higher weight is perceived as unfavorable, positive associations such as "recyclable" and "sustainable" predominate. Researchers, companies, and policymakers need to take this dissonance seriously and work to reconcile public perception by responsibly using and designing plastic packaging and enhance convenience during the disposal stage. This must be accompanied by clear consumer education, so that plastic is perceived as valuable material that consumers consider important to recycle.