Trewin Restorick, Founder of Sizzle Innovation, explores the behavioural challenges at the heart of UK recycling reform and how they can be overcome.
We all rely on routines to get through our daily lives. These habits are deeply ingrained and largely unquestioned. They operate on autopilot, freeing up mental capacity, allowing us to focus on more complex or unfamiliar decisions.
It is almost certain that some of these embedded habits relate to how we manage waste and recycling. We know when to put the bins out, and we instinctively separate materials without giving it much thought.
Changing these ingrained behaviours is notoriously difficult. It typically requires a significant disruption, such as moving home, having a child, changing jobs, or experiencing illness, before people reassess their routines.
This presents a clear challenge for the recycling sector. With the introduction of Simpler Recycling reforms and the forthcoming Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), there is a need to shift established behaviours at scale across the UK.
Research suggests that public support for DRS is strong and relatively stable, with low levels of opposition. Whilst willingness to use the scheme seems to be high, there is a drop off to around 50% when people are asked whether they are likely to use the scheme regularly.
Awareness is also significantly higher among environmentally engaged individuals and those over 55, but significantly lower among people under 35.
So how can the sector successfully influence daily routines to ensure the effectiveness of this new recycling infrastructure?
Academic research is clear: simple awareness-raising campaigns are rarely enough to disrupt established habits or embed new ones. Instead, a more sophisticated, multi-faceted approach is required, drawing on behavioural insights and practical interventions. These approaches often include the following elements:
Nudge
A key challenge is prompting people to reconsider behaviours that are automatic and largely unconscious. This can be achieved through timely prompts or ‘nudges’ at the point of action. Simple interventions such as stickers on bins encouraging people to pause and reconsider can be effective.
Retailers will also play a crucial role in reinforcing behaviours linked to DRS. Messaging at key touchpoints, such as store exits, car parks, or even printed on receipts and carrier bags, can serve as reminders to return containers.
There is also scope for more creative approaches. For example, visual cues like green footprints leading to DRS return points can make the desired behaviour both visible and intuitive.
Social norms
People are strongly influenced by what they perceive others around them to be doing. Establishing recycling behaviours as the ‘norm’ can significantly increase participation.
This can be achieved through messaging such as: ‘80% of shoppers at this store return their containers’. Social media, local press and in-store communications can reinforce the idea that returning containers is not just encouraged, it is expected.
Over time, this normalisation helps shift behaviour from being a conscious choice to an automatic habit.
Validation
Participation increases when people believe their actions have a meaningful impact. It is therefore essential to demonstrate clearly how individual contributions add up to wider environmental and economic benefits.
Storytelling can be particularly powerful here. Showing what happens to returned materials and how they are transformed into new products helps make the process tangible. Visual installations or real-time counters (for example ‘containers returned this week’) can further reinforce this sense of collective achievement.
At the same time, the sector must be prepared to respond quickly to negative media narratives. Stories highlighting system failures or inefficiencies can quickly erode public confidence if left unchallenged. Transparent communication and rapid rebuttal will be critical.
Hassle-free
Convenience will be one of the most important determinants of success. If new recycling behaviours are perceived as inconvenient, participation will quickly drop. Clear communication will be essential so that people quickly understand what is expected of them.
How the new DRS system fits with existing recycling collections could be an area of confusion and will require a consistent and easy-to-remember set of messaging to ensure it is embedded into people’s understanding.
The system must be designed to fit seamlessly into people’s existing routines. This includes ensuring that return points are easy to access, well-signposted and reliable. Equipment must function consistently, queues should be minimised, and processes should be quick and intuitive.
Where possible, the new system should feel no harder than existing behaviours. Friction is the enemy of habit formation; removing it is essential.
Reward
While environmental motivations are important, tangible incentives can significantly accelerate behaviour change. The financial reward offered through DRS provides a clear and immediate benefit, helping to reinforce the desired behaviour.
There is also an opportunity to broaden the concept of reward. Retailers could link returns to loyalty schemes, discounts, or charitable donations, allowing consumers to choose how they benefit. Non-financial rewards such as recognition, gamification, or community-based challenges can also help sustain engagement over time.
Ultimately, the goal is to move from extrinsic motivation (doing it for the reward) to intrinsic habit (doing it automatically without thinking).
Conclusion
Successfully delivering the next phase of UK recycling will depend not just on what is built, but on what people do every day. Infrastructure and policy can enable change, but only behaviour can deliver it.
Embedding new habits at scale will require sustained collaboration across government, retailers and the waste sector, combining behavioural insight with consistent, frictionless experiences.
Get this right, and new systems will feel effortless. Get it wrong, and even the best-designed schemes will struggle to succeed.
