SORTING IT OUT: THE DYNAMICS OF ESTABLISHING AND MAINTAINING HOUSEHOLD WASTE SEGREGATION ROUTINES
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2025-06-19
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en
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This study explores how household members establish and maintain waste segregation routines, addressing a gap in pro-environmental behaviour research, which typically focuses on individuals alone. Using a qualitative, phenomenological research approach, nine cohabiting couples were interviewed to discover how routines are established, maintained, and discussed within households. Findings suggest that despite pro-environmental intentions, actual behaviour is often hindered by convenience, resulting in a gap between intention and action. Waste segregation practices are often initiated by one partner, typically the more emotionally invested one, while the other complies with the system out of convenience or habit. Routines tend to develop informally rather than through explicit discussions, with task division based on practicality rather than equality. Communication is generally functional, with deeper discussions avoided to preserve harmony. External factors such as municipal policies and infrastructure heavily influence behaviour. The results imply that waste segregation is a mutual practice shaped by internal motivations, interpersonal dynamics, and contextual constraints. These insights have practical implications for policy design, advocating a shift from individual to household-level interventions, and theoretical significance by underlining collective behaviour in sustainability studies.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen