Promoting long-term sustainable behaviour:

Plastic pollution is a very urgent environmental problem that gets rising attention from governments, industries, and consumers. To prevent excessive waste and resource depletion, it is necessary that consumers make a shift from single-use towards reuse. However, good intentions do not always translate into actual sustainable behaviour. A reusable product has to be reused a certain number of times before it gets better for the environment than its single-use counterpart, due to a generally higher impact during the production of reusable products in comparison with single-use products. The minimal number of times a reusable product has to be reused to become more sustainable is what we call the breakeven point. This research analyses the enablers and barriers for the continued (long-term) usage of reusable alternatives for single-use products, with the aim to enable and motivate users to (at least) reach the breakeven point.

First, several qualitative and quantitative methods from social sciences are applied to create an understanding of human motivators and determinants for long-term behaviour and habit change, starting from socio-psychological theories. By means of a large survey, different types of consumers clusters are determined based on their SUP avoidance intention and attitudes, and the influence of situational constraints. By doing interviews with consumers, asking for barriers for long-term reuse, products could be categorized based on their typical barriers.

Next, the barriers are further investigated and connected to specific user characteristics and contexts by applying alternative methods, such as diary studies, observations, and workshops. Based on the results of these studies, a theoretical framework is continuously refined and verified, until a systemic overview of the problem is created and substantiated. The aim is to be able to connect different types of users, each with their own characteristics, context, and barriers, to specific ‘ideal’ solutions. Eventually, the framework will be validated through expert workshops.

If we want reusable products to have a positive environmental impact, we need to make sure people actually use them in a correct and sustainable manner, which automatically implies long-term usage and postponed replacement. Gaining insights into the motivators and barriers for specifically long-term reuse is key to developing successful reusable products to eventually decrease waste and resource depletion, and creating truly sustainable behaviours and habits.

Timeline: 2020-2024