How to get those recycling boxes out: a randomised controlled trial of a door-to-door recycling campaign

This paper reports on a recent randomised controlled trial to investigate whetherdoorstep canvassing is an effective way to encourage kerbside recycling. Previousresearch has suggested that doorstep canvassing can successfully raise recyclingparticipation rates by confronting negative attitudes, increasing understanding ofthe scheme and resolving structural obstacles (Shaw et al. 2007). Households onsmall streets tend to participate more in recycling (Harder et al. 2006). The aimsof the research are firstly to test the effectiveness of a door-to-door recyclingcampaign using an RCT method and secondly, to examine the impact of peereffects on recycling behaviour, looking at how street size affects changes inhousehold recycling behaviour.The research has been done in partnership with EMERGE, a not-for-profitorganisation which delivers a weekly kerbside recycling service. Recyclingparticipation rates for 6580 households were measured by observing bin set outrates over a three week period. Half of the streets in the area were randomlyassigned to receive an intervention to encourage recycling. All households onthese streets were visited by canvassers who were trained to promote andencourage recycling. Half of the streets were placed in a control group andreceived no special attention. Recycling participation rates for all householdswere measured after the intervention to see if the intervention had been effectivein raising participation rates.