The effect of housing type on householders' self-reported participation in recycling
Smart and Sustainable Built Environment
ISSN: 2046-6099
Article publication date: 8 April 2020
Issue publication date: 11 December 2020
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to examine the effect of housing type, relative to demographics, on householders' self-reported recycling across low-, medium- and high-density housing without recycling facilities by using the theory of planned behaviour.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey was conducted amongst 580 households across houses, townhouses and apartments in Pretoria, South Africa. The household member most responsible for recycling completed a self-administered questionnaire. Data were analysed using factor and reliability analyses, decision trees and multivariate analysis of variance.
Findings
Age was the strongest predictor; the older the respondent, the more likely the household recycled. Housing type was the second strongest predictor with a significant increase in recycling in houses compared to townhouses and apartments. Subsequent analyses focussed on young respondents to control for age. Housing type had an overall non-significant effect on the factors behind recycling. Post hoc tests, however, suggest that young respondents in townhouses and apartments felt significantly less able to recycle, particularly because of lack of space and support from managing agencies.
Practical implications
For recycling to be acceptable to young people in medium- and high-density housing, interior architects and site planners should find innovative ways to make individual and communal facilities as convenient and accessible as possible to tenants, owners and recycling companies. The role of managing agencies is also critical.
Originality/value
This study is one of the first to systematically examine recycling across three different housing types with recommendations for planning, design and further research.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the managing agencies of Boardwalk Meander, Equestria, and Hillcrest Boulevard for granting permission for the survey, and the residents who participated in the survey. The authors would also like to thank the following Planning students at the University of Pretoria who participated as fieldworkers for their final year research report in the Bachelor of Town and Regional Planning: Jean-Pierre Adendorff, Kailash Chetty, Claudia Coetzer, Ryno Coetzer, Willie Erasmus, Nicholas Grainger, Carl Harding, Johan Herbst, Dineo Lesejane, Zamanhlenga Mpanza Gamuchirai Mutezo, Melissa Peens, Mvuyo Nzima, Lourens Toerien, Megan van der Berg, Magnus Wessels.
Citation
du Toit, J. and Wagner, C. (2020), "The effect of housing type on householders' self-reported participation in recycling", Smart and Sustainable Built Environment, Vol. 9 No. 4, pp. 395-412. https://doi.org/10.1108/SASBE-04-2019-0055
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited