Women are more likely to ‘take the lead’ on recycling than men, but men are twice as likely to take the bin out, waste management company BusinessWaste.co.uk has found.
A 2013 survey undertaken by BusinessWaste.co.uk asked 1023 householders about their recycling habits and found that women were more likely to ensure the correct materials were placed in the right boxes (and undertake other household chores, especially when living with a male partner), while men were more likely to take the bin out for collection, or take waste to the tip.
The survey – undertaken to raise awareness of recycling practices – asked: 'If your local authority has a recycling scheme, who is more likely to ensure that your rubbish is correctly sorted?', and found that 39 per cent of households said a woman was in charge, with just 19 per cent saying a man was. Almost a quarter of households (23 per cent) said that both genders held the responsibility, with 19 per cent identifying neither.
However, men were found to be more than twice as likely to take the bins out for collection than women (47 per cent compared to 23 per cent), with 30 per cent saying that either sex was responsible.
BusinessWaste.co.uk also found that 78 per cent of households put men in charge when it came to taking refuse to the household waste recycling centres.
Speaking of the findings, BusinessWaste.co.uk spokesman Mark Hall said: "Overall, just less than half of all refuse in the United Kingdom is recycled, but when you break it down to how households behave, the men are lagging well behind."
Hall said the company was ‘amazed’ to find that more than twice as many women take the lead in recycling than men, and that one fifth of household admitted that they didn’t recycle at all.
“Scaled up to national levels, that's literally millions of households", he said, adding: "We can coin a phrase here, and say that 'There's truth in what we throw away', and the truth is that women are just far more organised with rubbish than their male partners."
Read more about BusinessWaste.co.uk
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How will the government and DMOs address the challenges of including glass in DRS while ensuring a level playing field across the UK?
There's no easy solution to include glass in the DRS while maintaining a level playing field. Potential approaches include a phased introduction of glass, potentially with higher deposits to reflect its logistical challenges. The government and DMOs could incentivise innovation in glass packaging design and subsidise dedicated return points for glass-handling. Exemptions for smaller businesses unable to handle glass might also be necessary. Any successful solution will likely blend several approaches. It must address the differing priorities of devolved administrations, balance environmental benefits with logistical and cost implications, and be supported by robust consumer education campaigns emphasizing the importance of glass recycling.