WRAP and Recycle Now's recycling tracker provides insights into UK citizen’s attitudes towards recycling as well as a greater understanding of their recycling related behaviours. It is an annual survey of UK citizens that gathers evidence on recycling attitudes, knowledge, and behaviour. It is the largest and longest running of its kind, having been undertaken by WRAP since 2004.
The survey uses boost sampling in Northern Ireland to provide a robust, enhanced sample of NI citizens. Fieldwork was undertaken online, from 03 - 15 November 2022. A total of 5,251 interviews were undertaken UK-wide with adults who have responsibility for dealing with the rubbish and recycling in the home. This included a sample of 516 adults in Northern Ireland. The sample matches the known profile of the NI population, with quotas set on age, gender and region.
The tracker results demonstrate a number of key findings about recycling behaviour:
- Recycling is a normalised behaviour with 95% of NI citizens doing so regularly.
- Over half (58%) miss opportunities to recycle common items.
- Just over four in five (85%) dispose of an item in the recycling that is not accepted.
- There is evidence of improvement following campaigns by Recycle Now.
- On average, NI citizens dispose of 5.6 items incorrectly. This is in line with the latest UK findings.
- The survey finds there is a high satisfaction with the waste and recycling service in Northern Ireland and has improved in the past two years in a number of criteria.
- Recycle Week 2022 recorded a strong performance in Northern Ireland, with around one in seven NI citizens (22%) engaging with it.
- Of those who engaged with Recycle Week, close to half (46%) say they did something different as a result.
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