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Closing the Intention-Action Gap: Behaviorally-Aligned Strategies for Effective Plastic Pollution Reduction
Summary
This policy brief reviews plastic pollution reduction strategies in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, and Jamaica through a behavioral science lens, examining why good intentions don't always lead to action. The analysis identifies interventions that can close the gap between people's environmental attitudes and their actual plastic use behaviors.
This brief provides an overview of existing or proposed policies that aim to mitigate plastic pollution in four countries across the Americas (Argentina, Brazil, Canada, and Jamaica), as well as how a behavioral framework can be used to analyze and develop effective plastic pollution mitigation policies. At times, policy efforts do not always produce the desired outcomes, resulting in an intention-action gap, which is a disconnect between policy intentions and the everyday behavior of stakeholders. This brief highlights behaviorally-aligned recommendations to reduce the impact of plastic waste and pollution. The ultimate goal of this policy brief is to provide policymakers an insight into behaviorally-aligned policy perspectives to address plastic pollution in their respective countries.
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