Recycle Week 2026, running from 14 to 20 September, highlights some of the challenges everyone faces when trying to improve recycling. As ever, knowledge of what can and cannot be recycled is only one part of the picture. But I think one of the most interesting takeaways this year is about motivation.
Research from WRAP, the environmental action NGO behind Recycle Week, shows that while recycling is already well established – with 89% of people regularly recycling at least most things – people are increasingly questioning whether their efforts are worthwhile, trust in the system is declining, and younger people are missing more recyclable items.
That matters. In behaviour change terms, people need the knowledge and capability to know what to do, the opportunity to do it easily, and the motivation to actually do it. But without all three, behaviour change doesn’t happen.
So perhaps the challenge isn’t simply getting people to recycle.
It’s getting people to recycle more of the right things, more often – and believe there is a point in doing it.
>>> FREE GUIDE Increase Recycling and Food Waste Collection Rates: deliver better outcomes, save money and measure success with your free Recycling and Food Waste Planner.
>>> Get in touch: If you would like to speak with me about how to improve recycling and food waste collection rates, please make a Free Online Enquiry for a no-obligation discussion, or book a free planning call with me.
Recycling is established. Getting it right is harder
WRAP’s 2025 Recycling Tracker unpacks what’s happening in more detail,
- 79% of people still put recyclable materials in their general rubbish.
- 2.5 recyclable items are missed by the average household every single week.
- 81% of households put at least one non-recyclable item into their recycling bin.
So almost everybody recycles, but almost everybody gets at least some of it wrong. For me, this is where the behaviour change challenge gets much more interesting.
And the context has changed again this year. Simpler Recycling came into force for households in England from 31 March 2026, introducing a more consistent core range of recyclable materials alongside weekly food waste collections.
A more consistent system should help. But infrastructure and collection systems alone don’t change behaviour. People still have to understand the service, remember what to do and be motivated to use it correctly. And they need to be in the habit of doing the right things consistently.
Addressing low public confidence
WRAP found that only 9% of people feel very confident about what can and cannot be recycled, while 58% describe themselves as “mostly confident”. This matters because people usually make recycling decisions in seconds. Quite often, they are also habitual. We aren’t standing in front of the bin carefully weighing up the pros and cons every time we throw something away.
A useful way of thinking about this is the distinction between System 1 and System 2 thinking. This is about the different ways our brains process decisions. System 1 is fast, automatic and intuitive. System 2 is slower, more deliberate and takes more mental effort.
A lot of everyday recycling happens in System 1. We see an item, make a quick, automatic decision and put it in the bin we normally use, often without consciously thinking much about it. That matters because interventions designed to change an established habit, an automatic behaviour, need to look different from those designed simply to give someone more information.
If the problem is knowledge, clearer information might help. But if someone automatically throws a shampoo bottle into the bathroom bin every morning, another leaflet about recycling may achieve very little. You also need to consider the environment around the behaviour, not just the communications.
Bin locations, signage, labels, colours, collection arrangements and the design of communal bin areas can all make the desired behaviour easier or harder. Sometimes the answer is better communication. Sometimes it is changing something operationally. Usually, it is a combination of both. Actually, it’s always a combination of both.
Proving that individual recycling efforts are worthwhile
The fall in the number of people who think their recycling is worthwhile is therefore particularly important. WRAP’s research shows a strong relationship between this perspective and reported recycling behaviour:
| Resident Motivation Level | Percentage Who Recycle Everything They Can |
|---|---|
| Believe efforts are “very worthwhile” | 81% |
| View recycling as “fairly” or “not” worthwhile | 35% |
That doesn’t prove one causes the other. But it gives us a pretty big clue.
And new research shared by WRAP ahead of Recycle Week 2026 helps explain what may be driving that decline.
Among people whose belief in the worthwhileness of recycling had fallen:
- 32% pointed to stories about recycling being sent abroad or being mixed with general rubbish.
- 29% cited a lack of feedback about what happens to their recycling and the impact it has.
- 26% said seeing other people in their area not bother recycling made them question whether their own efforts were worthwhile.
Those are three slightly different behavioural problems: trust, feedback and social norms.
And they point to something councils, and others, can actually do something about. A lot of recycling communications are about telling people what to recycle. But perhaps we need to spend more time showing people why doing it is worthwhile.
What happens to their recycling? What does it become? What has their area achieved? What happens when recycling is contaminated? What is the environmental or financial benefit of getting it right? That feedback can help turn an instruction into something that feels meaningful. It can also help tackle distrust in the system.
How council recycling communications should evolve
WRAP’s 2025 Recycling Tracker found that only 37% of people recalled receiving information from their council about what could and couldn’t be recycled during the previous year. Those who had received information reported greater confidence and were more likely to believe their recycling efforts were worthwhile.
However, one important caveat: this research predates much of the communication around the introduction of Simpler Recycling and new food waste services during 2026. It will be interesting to see what changes as this works its way through the stats.
But the broader point remains. The answer isn’t to communicate more simply because everybody needs reminding to recycle. It is to make communications more useful and more focused on the specific behaviour, or behaviours, we need to change.
That might mean correcting uncertainty about a particular material. It might mean showing residents what their recycling becomes. It might mean showing residents what their recycling becomes. Or it might mean changing the bins, signage, collection arrangements or physical environment rather than producing another leaflet.
The same applies to food waste. Someone who has never used their food waste collection service may face very different barriers from someone who started using it and then stopped. Treating them as one audience and sending them the same information is unlikely to solve both problems.
Three questions to start with
For councils planning recycling activity over the coming year, I would still start with three core questions:
- What specific behaviours do we need to change?
- What is stopping people from doing them?
- What is the mix of knowledge, opportunity, and motivation behind those barriers? Top tip: you need all three for behaviour change to take place.
Recycle Week gives us a good opportunity to put recycling back in front of people. But the bigger challenge is not simply getting people to recycle. Most already do.
It’s making it easier, clearer and more worthwhile to get it right.
>>> FREE GUIDE Increase Recycling and Food Waste Collection Rates: deliver better outcomes, save money and measure success with your free Recycling and Food Waste Planner.
>>> Get in touch: If you would like to speak with me about how to improve recycling and food waste collection rates, please make a Free Online Enquiry for a no-obligation discussion, or book a free planning call with me.
