Research Centre
Art and Design Research Centre

Date
2012

Sustainability and inclusivity: recycling and the ageing population

There are growing pressures (political, legislative and environmental) to increase the UK recycling rate.

There have been numerous studies about recycling behaviour, participation and motivations much of which has been summarised by Tucker (2003). There are disagreements over the impact that age has on ability and inclination to recycle. The author believes that there are significant effects that age and the ageing population has and will have on ability to recycle and overall UK material recovery rates.

This positioning paper examines literature regarding barriers to recycling and relationships with age. A hypothetical scenario is outlined for the impact of the ageing population on future material recovery rates in the UK, present the initial results of a survey and the potential role that design can play to eliminate these barriers is described along with the authors' activities within this area in this project; ‘The Grey Areas of Green Design’.

Download Is green a grey area? Sustainability and inclusivity; recycling and the ageing population (PDF, 1.1MB) (PDF. 1151KB)

Researchers involved

Dr Joseph Langley - Senior Research Fellow, Lab4Living

Related projects

Lab 4 Living - Lab4Living is a collaborative research initiative between the Art and Design...