The warm glow of recycling can make us more wasteful; such potential ‘wasteful contribution’ effects need to be considered in assessing the benefits of certain recycling initiatives

The warm glow of recycling can make us more wasteful. Jenny van Doorn, Tim Kurz. Journal of Environmental Psychology, August 19 2021, 101672. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2021.101672

Highlights

• Initiatives that involve recycling waste into something useful are gaining popularity.

• These initiatives potentially increase waste rather than preventing it.

• People may frame their waste as a contribution to the collective good that elicits a warm glow.

Abstract: Laudable initiatives designed to limit the environmental damage associated with consumption, such as the recycling of plastic packaging into clothing or unused bread into beer, have become increasingly popular. In three experiments, we show how such initiatives can potentially increase waste rather than preventing it. Specifically, we show that when presented with such options people may come to psychologically frame their waste creation as a contribution to the collective good that makes them feel good about themselves (i.e. eliciting a warm-glow effect). We argue that such potential ‘wasteful contribution’ effects need to be considered in assessing the true sustainability benefits of certain recycling initiatives.

Keywords: RecyclingWarm glowWasteWaste hierarchyFoodPlastic