Women are much better at recycling waste than men

In Waterford, Ireland women are better at recycling waste than men – except when it comes to disposing drink cans!



That was one of the insightful findings of the survey on Waterford People’s Attitudes, Knowledge and Use of recycling facilities conducted by the Transition Year students of St. Angela’s Secondary School.



The Waterford News & Star reports that the survey (of 250 men and women of varying ages) found that a massive 83% of those surveyed believed it was important or very important to recycle household waste, but only two thirds recycled in practice.



The survey also identified marked differences between the attitudes of men and women towards recycling. Transition year students from St. Angela’s informed a packed audience at City Hall last Friday that while 89% of women respondents to the survey considered recycling household waste important, only 77% of men surveyed did. This male/female divide is mirrored in responses to a question on people’s attitudes towards reducing the amount of packaging waste going to dumps. A total of 89% of women respondents believed it was important to reduce the amount of packaging waste as opposed to 78% of men.



Likewise 79% of women were aware of where their nearest recycling facility was located compared to 61% of men. Indeed the survey found that the only item where men came out on top as more likely to recycle than women was drink cans.



Arising from these findings, St. Angela’s Transition Year students have suggested that recycling advertising campaigns be targeted at men and not just women. The survey, which was conducted in February, also led St. Angela’s Transition Years to conclude that people are more likely to recycle if the facilities are made more convenient for them. This prompted them to recommend that recycling bins be installed at every shop corner.



According to their survey, only 27% of respondents believed there was sufficient recycling facilities in Waterford and only 14% thought the Government was doing enough to encourage recycling at household level. Only 21% of respondents, who said they recycled waste regularly, rated recycling facilities in their areas as excellent, while 37% rated recycling facilities in their area as very poor.



Nearly one third (30%) of respondent weren’t aware of their nearest recycling centre When people were asked what products can be recycled in Waterford more than three quarters knew that glass, paper and drink cans can be recycled and just under three quarters knew that clothes can be recycled. The items people are most aware of have lots of recycling facilities, but the survey found that Waterford people were less aware of disposing recyclable items that you bring to the landfill or taken by the mobile recycling unit, which was only used by 60% of respondents.



The most common items that respondents recycled were bottles (85%), newspapers (72%), drink cans (56%) and clothes at (50%), which are all items that are easy to recycle. Meanwhile, only 32% of Waterford households had a compost heap for recycling organic material. This, according to St Angela’s students, is an area that can be improved upon. St. Angela’s Transition Year class concluded from the survey’s findings that the Government and the public needs to make a greater effort at waste recycling.