Improving recycling sorting behaviour with human eye nudges

Abstract

This paper tests whether visual nudges help direct attention towards existing instructions designed to increase waste sorting accuracy. The study was conducted in a quasi-experimental setting over a period of 9 weeks in two buildings of a large UK university campus. Two treatments on recycling behaviour were tested against a control group: one considered the impact of visual nudges in the form of human eyes; the other one combined human eye with pre-existing sorting instructions. Results show that for mixed recycling the combination of visual and information nudges decreased sorting errors by 7 percentage points. In contrast, visual nudges alone increased sorting errors by 4.5 percentage points. These findings indicate that, when combined, information and a visual nudge are cost-effective tools to significantly improve waste sorting behaviour. This paper adds to existing experimental evidence based on neuroscientific theories.

Mindful Waste Separation Through Self-Administered “Watching Eyes”.

“…Empirical studies have shown that displaying an image of "Watching Eyes" can increase prosocial behavior (1)(2)(3)(4)(5), reduce littering in public spaces (1,4,6) and improve waste sorting (7)(8)(9). In the study described here, around 2000 households in the Frankfurt district of Riedberg were each sent a sticker and a tag with images of "Watching Eyes" (male eyes, neutral expression) to place on or near the residual waste bin in their own kitchen or on the outside waste bin for a period of two weeks.…”