Title

The launch in June of the rewards for recycling scheme for all residents in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead has inspired a lot of discussion amongst the Enventure team, not just because of our involvement in the pilot scheme to maximise resident participation and engagement or the fact our new recruit Caroline used to live in leafy Maidenhead, but mainly for the heated debate it has generated in the media surrounding the merits of incentivising recycling activity.

Whilst visiting Windsor to see the new scheme in action, Communities Secretary Eric Pickles went on record stating that the government would back rewarding people for recycling rather than advocating 'pay as you throw' schemes and 'bin taxes' debated by the previous Labour government. Talking to Radio 4's The World At One, he suggested that in order for the UK to meet its target of becoming one of the green economies in Europe, greater levels of recycling across the UK were required and incentivising people to recycle was the quickest way to achieve this.

"It does not put the costs up. Actually what it does is it increases the recycling rate and puts money into the local economy." (from BBC website)

'Various recycling schemes that have seen significant reductions in the amount of food waste thrown out suggest that incentives aren't necessary...'

However, we've also seen some reports in the media querying the need for such incentives, citing WRAP figures released in 2009 showing that in the last five years across the UK recycling rates have increased from 17% to 34% as well as evidence that a significant number of Local Authorities are already exceeding 40% recycling and composting of household waste. In fact, as reported by MRW (the recycling and waste magazine) Nicola Peake, Managing Director of the May Gurney Environmental Services, believes that such schemes "aren't actually necessary". She refers to the success of various food waste recycling schemes that have seen significant reductions in the amount of food waste thrown out without the carrot (groan) of incentives...

"When weekly food recycling services are introduced, the level of food waste thrown out drops by up to 25% as residents see how much food they are throwing away and look for new ways to cut waste or to recycle at home."

Bob Wigley the chairman of the government's Green Investment Bank Commission speaking at a meeting earlier this month put it more even more bluntly when discussing how businesses and households need to improve their environmental performance;

'As the government seeks to make £2bn of cuts, will incentive schemes with their need for investment prove too costly to implement?'

"I don't think incentives work – sticks do."

He went on to advocate imposing financial penalties on businesses and households such as increased levels of stamp duty for buyers who refuse to install energy efficient and renewable energy measures when buying a new home.

Furthermore, with the government seeking to make cuts of £2bn in public spending, there are concerns that such incentives schemes with their need for investment and new administration will prove too costly to implement.

This interest in the merits and impact of incentivisation has got Enventure thinking, from the various direct engagement and research projects we've conducted for Local Authorities the length and breadth of the UK and the people we've spoken to, can we be sure that the prospect of incentivisation really does change people's intentions and attitudes towards recycling for the better?

'Our recent research shows that recycling is fast becoming a regular household chore and incentives to recycle more appear to have little impact on recycling activity.'

By looking at the evidence from five of our most recent research projects evaluating recycling schemes we conducted in Harrogate, Trafford, Halton, Tewksbury and Amber Valley* it appears that recycling is fast becoming a regular household chore, another thing to tick off on the weekly household to do list along with 'do the ironing', 'mow the lawn' and 'walk the dog'. And as such, incentives to recycle more would have little impact on respondents' recycling activity, in answer to the question 'would an incentive encourage you to recycle more?'

• 7% said yes in Harrogate
• 4% in Trafford agreed
• 3% of Tewksbury residents agreed
• 2% in Halton agreed
• And 2% of those living in Amber Valley said yes incentives to recycle would encourage them to recycle more.

In fact, 'nothing' is the most common response we see in answer to this question in our surveys. These low figures coupled with the corresponding high rates of residents claimed participation in kerbside recycling schemes; we saw reported participation rates for these specific five schemes of between 91 and 99%, it appears that carrots do not provide food for recycling thought.

Rather than offering carrots or indeed sticks, what we really should be looking at is ensuring Local Authorities equip residents with the practical knowledge and skills to reduce the amount of waste generated and encourage ongoing active engagement in such schemes. As well as putting carrot peelings into our compost bins as part of our recycling efforts, we need to reuse by cultivating those carrot top plants that I've been reliably informed are a tasty addition to homemade soups!

For more information on how Enventure can help you measure the impact of recycling schemes and associated incentive schemes as well as identifying how best to optimise participation rates, contact us at info@enventure.co.uk

* All large scale quantitative primary research studies involving Enventure interviewers speaking to respondents on the doorstep, with an average sample size of approximately 4,200 residents interviewed over the five projects referenced in this article.

Article sources – WRAP recycling data 2009, www.bbc.co.uk, www.mrw.co.uk

Enventure is once again providing research for Leeds City Council into a trial recycling scheme taking place in the Rothwell area of Leeds.

A new recycling scheme which offers residents the opportunity to recycle their food waste weekly, and a fortnightly collection of their general waste and recycling is currently being trialled and Enventure has been commissioned to engage with the local residents to find out what they think of it.

The research is taking both a quantitative and qualitative shape; our team of interviewers are out speaking to residents on the doorstep administering a survey using CAPI, and we are holding a series of discussion groups with residents in order to really investigate how they have found the trial scheme.

This phase of research follows on from an earlier stage, also conducted by Enventure, which initially scoped the trial recycling scheme to see what barriers were in place ready for its implementation, and to test what size food waste bins residents would want.

The findings of the research will be used to evaluate the success of the trial and assess whether it has potential to be rolled out to other areas of Leeds.

The Project Manager of the research, Matthew Thurman says: "It will be interesting to see how, a year on from our previous research, the residents of Rothwell are adapting to the new recycling scheme, particularly the food waste collection.  It's also another great opportunity for Enventure to do what we do best – deliver effective public engagement to local people concerning issues which really matter to them."

We've finally caved - Enventure is now on Twitter! You can follow us and keep up to date with all our latest news, updates and developments from the world of public sector research and engagement, and from time to time something completely irrelevant...!

Follow us at www.twitter.com/Enventure_Ltd

Caroline Herring has recently joined the Enventure team as Research Manager. With 12 years of research agency experience, Caroline joins us after working for Bezier the leading retail marketing agency, where she managed a range of qualitative and quantitative research projects on behalf of a variety of blue chip consumer clients and pioneered the use of research in Bezier's bespoke Virtual Reality Lab. Caroline brings a wealth of research experience in both public, private and not for profit sectors to Enventure and was shortlisted for the MRS award for Public Policy/Social Research 2008 for her research 'Scoping Social Marketing Intervention Strategies in Tackling Obesity & Development a Healthy Weight Management Initiative in Barnsley'.

Caroline has a particular interest in Health and Community research, having worked on various projects in sector looking at smoking cessation, understanding patient experiences for various long term medical conditions, as well as developing effective communication and social marketing campaigns for the NHS, Police, Charities and pharmaceutical companies. She prides herself on bringing an innovative and creative approach to research whilst keeping a firm eye on the bottom line for her clients.

Commenting on her recent appointment, Caroline said "I am really excited about joining Enventure and utilising the skills I've honed in the private sector to deliver valuable, insightful and cost effective research solutions to our client base in the public sector. I'm particularly excited about the benefits that online research and use of social networking sites can bring to our clients. I've already been made to feel right at home in the Enventure team, even if my tea and coffee making skills leave a lot to be desired!"

Cheshire West and Cheshire Council has appointed Enventure to evaluate a Freshers’ Fair campaign it conducted to get new students on board its kerbside recycling scheme.

The research will involve questioning students to help the council gauge the effectiveness of the campaign.

We will provide the council with a top line results report covering information such as students’ awareness and understanding of the campaign and what might encourage them to participate in the council’s recycling scheme in the future.

Enventure has secured its third community engagement contract with Trafford Borough Council.

We have already completed two projects to help the council in its campaign to increase awareness and participation rates for its refuse and recycling services.

The work will continue with our third contract, which involves undertaking direct engagement campaign in the Old Trafford and Gorse Hill areas to ensure that residents are well informed about the council's new recycling scheme and are encouraged to participate in it.

Enventure's Managing Director Mark Robinson says: "As with previous contracts in culturally diverse communities, we will recruit recycling promoters who can communicate with residents in a range of languages, reducing the risk of people remaining unaware of the scheme and actively encouraging participation on a one-to-one basis."

Enventure has been appointed by the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive to help make sure a proposed marketing campaign hits the target.

The contract win was based on our expertise in pre-testing campaigns to help ensure they issue the right message at the right time and achieve a high public response rate.

The research involves carrying out qualitative research with travel co-ordinators and analysing feedback, giving valuable input to a West Yorkshire Travel Plan Network campaign to find out how the network can improve what it does already and what else would its customers would like to see introduced.

Congratulations go to Matthew, a research executive at Enventure, who has recently passed the MRS (Market Research Society) Advanced Certificate in Market and Social Research with flying colours. Matthew's enthusiasm and hard work earned him a distinction for the exam element of the course and a merit for the coursework. Everyone at Enventure sends their congratulations to Matthew for a job well done!

Liverpool City Council has called in Enventure's expertise to get the recycling message across to people in households across the city. The Council wants to look at how improvements to the recycling collection service can best result in increased participation rates and efficiency. The project will benefit from our team of experienced Recycling Communication Support Officers who are highly trained to inform and engage residents.

Enventure Managing Director Mark Robinson says: "Enventure has over eight years of experience in co-ordinating recycling engagement campaigns and providing valuable feedback to waste management teams.

Our research and analysis will help Liverpool City Council ensure that its proposed major investment in the recycling scheme is targeted in the most efficient and cost-effective way."

Enventure is broadening its extensive expertise in the field of health with the award of a contract providing insight into issues surrounding teenage pregnancy.

Enventure won the contract to help health professionals in NHS North Lincolnshire gather information about this sensitive subject through a range of qualitative approaches, including in-depth interviews and focus groups.

The study will identify best practice and guide decision-making on issues such as how to target resources, improve services, reduce teenage pregnancy rates and produce better outcomes for teenage parents.

Enventure's Managing Director Mark Robinson says: "Enventure lists a number of health bodies among our clients and we pride ourselves on providing a service that combines professionalism with sensitivity to the people taking part in the research.

"We will bring our usual high standards to this project with NHS North Lincolnshire."