Enhancing Recycling Education and Awareness Among Consumers

1. Education & Awareness: FEEDBACK

2. FOCUS AREAS 1. Consumer education & awareness (research, stakeholder map, communications plan) 2. Business support & skills development (informal, SMME, formal B2B) 3. Clean-up activities 4. Support collateral (for all of the above)

3. 1. Consumer Education and Awareness a. What’s the Status Quo? (research) b. Who’s who in the Zoo? (stakeholder map) c. Who are we talking to? What are we saying? Why are we saying it? (communications plan with clear target audiences) d. Where are we saying it & how often? (calendar of events)

4. 1 (a). Research • Schools Research – operational and educational initiatives in schools addressing waste management and recycling • Consumer research – attitudes towards recycling in SA

5. SCHOOL RESEARCH SCHOOL RESEARCH THREE-PHASED APPROACH EDUCATORS EDUCATORS LEARNERS LEARNERS EDUCATORS EDUCATORS ONLINE ONLINE IN IN- -SCHOOL SCHOOL QUESTIONNAIRE QUESTIONNAIRE FOCUS FOCUS GROUPS GROUPS QUESTIONNAIRE QUESTIONNAIRE

6. CURRENT RECYCLING INTERVENTIONS CURRENT RECYCLING INTERVENTIONS Educator Online Survey & Student Questionnaire MATERIALS MOST RECYCLED IN SCHOOLS MATERIALS MOST RECYCLED IN SCHOOLS 65.1% 65.1% 69.8% 69.8% 74.4% 74.4% 58.1% 58.1% 48.8% 48.8% 37.2% 37.2% WHERE THEY RECYCLE WHERE THEY RECYCLE REASONS FOR NOT RECYCLING REASONS FOR NOT RECYCLING REASONS FOR NOT RECYCLING REASONS FOR NOT RECYCLING Don’t know where Too much effort Don’t know how 13.9% 10.4% 6.6% At home In community At school 46.8% Don’t know where Too much effort Don’t know how 13.9% 10.4% 6.6% 20.9% 17.4%

7. IN SUMMARY: • LEARNERS: – 96.5%of the sample think that recycling is worthwhile. – 25.6% don’t recycle: the main reasons are they don’t know where and don’t know how. – One third of learners get their info about recycling from social media. – 57.3% of learners get their info about recycling from churches. • EDUCATORS: – All educators want an additional community impact with any proposed recycling initiatives. – Urban educators believe that social media and e-newsletters (to the surrounding community) can be used better to raise awareness around recycling. – Rural educators believe that churches need to be targeted to raise awareness around recycling.

8. THE ROLE OF THE CONSUMER Enabling environment for collectors X Diversion from landfill Awareness & participation in recycling

9. CONSUMERS: LSM 1-3 LSM 4-6 LSM 7-10 • Recycling has decreased. • Waste collectors and Word of Mouth = main conveyers of recycling message. • Economic factors = main benefit. • Lack of storage space and apathy are main barriers. • High respect for waste collectors. • Disappointing levels of recycling, BUT positive disposition toward recycling. • Apathy is high. • Waste collectors visible and respected. • Environmental factors = main benefit. • Higher recycling behaviour than other 2 groups, but more re-use than recycling. Traditional media of TV and Radio best to convey recycling message. Environmental factors = main benefit. See recycling as a necessity. Much antagonism towards informal waste collectors. • • • •

10. COMMON LEARNINGS ACROSS ALL GROUPS: • There is a very large need for education around the importance of recycling, how to recycle & where to take recyclables to. • For LSM 1 – 3, incentives to recycle should be economically- aligned; LSMs 4 – 10 are motivated by environmental factors. • Biggest barriers to recycling are a lack of facilities and space to store the items within the home. • High confusion about the polymer identification code and what it really means. • Plastic bottles and cans remain the most recycled items.

11. 1 (b). Stakeholder Map 1. Governance: • Government Associations; Facilitation agencies 2. Formal Industry: • Producers; Converters; Retailers; PROs; Recyclers; Brand owners; Waste management companies; Waste logistics companies; Product designers; Buy-back centres; SMMEs, entrepreneurs; Transport and Logistics companies; etc. 3. Informal sector: • Individual collectors; SMME’s; Cooperatives 4. Influencers: • Academia; Consultants; Lobby groups and NGOs; Industry organisations and associations;Media; Social Media Influencers 5. Beneficiaries: • All consumers (Communities; Schools; Youth; etc.) (national, provincial, local) and regulatory bodies; Unions;

12. 2. Business Support & Skills Development a. Training, Mentorship, Equipment sponsorship and Infrastructure support b. Resources and Support documents c. Information sharing & Support – emailers, workshops and networking opportunities

13. Training Co-operatives & SMMEs

14. Equipment sponsorship & infrastructure support

15. 3. Clean-up Activities Many existing global and national campaigns that can be leveraged but we need to know what is happening:  Water Week (March)  World Oceans Day (8 June)  World Environmental Day (4 June)  Plastic-Free July (July)  National Clean-up and Recycle SA Week (September)  Recycling Day Sa (September)  International Coastal Clean-up Day (September)  Let`s Do It World Clean-up Day (September)  Marine Week (October)  Dirty Dozen national clean-up events (ongoing)  Etc.

16. 4. Collateral  Design-for-Recycling guidelines, technical support and member workshops  ‘How to recycle’ brochures  Training materials / mentorship support  FAQs on plastic  Social media support and campaign integration for members

17. IN SUMMARY: • What is working well? – The Good Green Deeds campaign is a great platform and it has the President’s support. Let’s support this. – Enough research has already been done. We know which consumers we need to reach, we know where they are, we know what media they consume, we know what motivates them, we know what the barriers are, we know what languages we need to put the messaging into, we know what platforms to use, we know what organisations to partner with, etc. Let’s not waste this info. – There are many existing programmes that address pollution & recycling. Let’s document and support these. – PROs exist for support and guidance to industry. The obliged industry players should all belong to a PRO per waste material.

18. IN SUMMARY: • What are the gaps? – Good Green Deeds does not articulate a role for everyone, therefore there is no ownership of the campaign amongst stakeholders. – There is no comprehensive communications plan (& stakeholder mapping) with clear role for all stakeholders, linking into Good Green Deeds overarching campaign. – There is no cohesive strategy itemising all programmes addressing pollution. – There are free-riders in the system, benefitting from the PRO work but not paying a recycling / EPR fee. This need to be urgently addressed.

19. IN SUMMARY: • Top 5 challenges? – Consumers want to recycle, but they don’t know how, where or what. – There are too many confusing & complex messages about recycling. – Funding. • Support needed? – Input into stakeholder map and comms plan; access to government platforms – Adoption across all spheres of Good Green Deeds Campaign – Listing and leveraging of all existing activities – Duplication of Billy Bin mascot for use at all existing activities – Funding.

20. Next Steps: • Draft a comms plan (skeleton exists; share for comment). Ensure this supports GGD campaign. • Draft a calendar of events based on existing comms, clean-up, etc. activities that can be leveraged. • Draft a training and skills development programme for SMMEs / informal collectors. • Collate all existing awareness collateral that can be incorporated without much effort.