Influence of Packaging Design on Littering and Waste Behaviour

摘要

Littering is a packaging-related problem where the environmental, social and economic aspects of sustainability meet. Litter is likely to be harmful for wildlife, looks untidy and is expensive to clean up. Research into reducing litter has focused primarily on the litterer and on the surroundings in which the littering occurs, but the influence of the littered object has so far been ill addressed. This research focused on understanding how the characteristics of an object influence its probability of being littered and how this insight can be used to improve the design of these objects, in particular packaging. Both eco-feedback and scripting approaches were examined in four experimental setups. It was found that the design of a packaging does have a significant influence on waste behaviour of consumers. However, applying this insight to packaging design in order to reduce littering was found to be less than straightforward.