When simplification becomes a burden

The world is heading for a tripling of plastic waste by 2060. States and municipalities are already struggling to counteract this trend with effective strategies. A central element of such strategies is the behaviour of households in waste separation. Because what goes wrong at the beginning of the disposal chain can hardly be corrected later. In practice, however, it has been shown that the more complex the requirements for waste separation, the greater the likelihood that citizens will separate incorrectly or even refrain from recycling altogether out of frustration or uncertainty. Against this background, a seemingly simple question arises: Could simplifying separation requirements lead to more recycling? This question is addressed by the study "Does simplification of plastic waste separation promote plastic recycling?" from Japan, which analyzes the effect of a targeted intervention in the separation system. The results shed a differentiated light on the conflict of goals between user-friendliness and material purity. The study was published in the "Journal of material cycles and waste management".