Taking Measures for the Successful Implementation of Circular Economy

In the discussion about environmental protection, new recycling methods and the reprocessing of waste products are receiving increasing attention – while factors such as consumer behaviour and the participation of the population at large are frequently neglected.

Together with her fellow researchers, UAS researcher Alexandra Anderluh examined approaches to strengthening consumer behaviours that promoted a circular economy.

The result: Not the milieu is decisive, but the incentives.

“Within the framework of the study, it turned out that person’s belonging to a certain societal milieu made less of a distinction, whereas our interviewed persons’ livelihoods seemed to have a rather strong impact on their affinity to circular economy”, summarises Anderluh.

In the study, certain incentives proved to have good results when it comes to promoting behaviours that are conducive to a circular economy, such as the “Reparaturbonus” (an allowance towards the price of repair works on household devices) which is already successfully used in practice.