NBER Paper on Environmental Behaviour

Discontinuous Behavioral Responses to Recycling Laws and Plastic Water Bottle Deposits 

W. Kip Viscusi, Joel Huber, Jason Bell, Caroline Cecot NBER Working Paper No. 15585* Issued in December 2009 This article examines the effects of recycling and deposit laws on consumer recycling of plastic water bottles using a nationally representative sample of 2,550 bottled water users. Economic theory predicts individual behavior that gravitates toward extremes—either diligent recycling or no recycling at all. This pattern is borne out in actual recycling behavior. Both water bottle deposits and recycling laws foster recycling behavior through a discontinuous effect that converts reluctant recyclers into diligent recyclers. More stringent recycling laws have a greater effect on recycling rates. The efficacy of these interventions is greatest for those who would not already recycle and especially for those in lower income groups or who do not consider themselves to be environmentalists.