Should the responsibility of waste control fall on those who manufacture products? We find out if consumers think companies are doing enough to implement anti-waste measures and promote sustainability in Australia.
In this article
- Australia’s commitment to the circular economy
- Australians lack awareness of the circular economy
- Consumers genuinely believe in companies’ environmental efforts
- Recycling is the most valued sustainability effort
- Australians are divided on willingness to pay more for sustainable products
- Focus on raising consumer awareness of the circular economy
Australia generated 76 million tonnes of waste according to the latest Waste Account in 2020 — an increase of 10% over the previous two years. The integration and use of circular economy methods with sustainable practices could prove to be an effective measure of waste control by prolonging the life of products.
We surveyed over 1,000 Australians to investigate what consumers know about the circular economy concept and if they think businesses are investing enough in anti-waste measures. Furthermore, we look at consumer confidence in sustainable practices and how Aussies perceive companies’ efforts to promote the circular economy. All participants understood the definition of the circular economy we provided at the start of the survey. Scroll to the end for the full methodology.
Australia’s commitment to the circular economy
Australia has committed to reducing waste and making use of recycled materials by investing $1 billion to accelerate its waste and recycling industries. Government incentives, grants, and support — such as the $26 million National Product Stewardship Investment Fund— will increase the number of industry-led recycling schemes, with the aim of recovering 80% of Australia’s waste by 2030.
What is the circular economy?
The circular economy is a model that aims to optimise production and consumption processes to extend the life cycle of products for as long as possible. Circular economy practices include sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, and recycling existing materials.
Additionally, one of the goals of the circular economy is to make better use of resources by reducing the demand for primary materials and optimising processes and products to produce less material waste. The circular economy transcends the traditional natural resource and waste-intensive take-make-dispose economic model by keeping natural resources in circulation.
Australia’s transformation into a circular economy calls for expertise and new technologies. Businesses are seeking co-funding and collaborations in their transition, which has opened up opportunities for companies that can offer innovative waste management solutions. The Australian government is generating demand for recycled materials by increasing its purchase of products made from recycled content.
The transition roadmap identifies growth opportunities in recyclable products and packaging, remanufacturing, products from recycled materials, and recycling clean energy components. These opportunities can help boost the manufacturing industry and create a new wave of innovation in the economy.
Australians lack awareness of the circular economy
The Australian government is increasingly interested in the circular economy concept as a tool to tackle current environmental challenges. However, only 13% of survey-takers said they were aware of the concept before reading the definition of the circular economy we provided.
Furthermore, the level of awareness of the circular economy in Australia is low compared to respondents from other countries in our survey. At least 30% of survey-takers in the Netherlands, Germany, France, and Spain had prior knowledge of the circular economy, although, interestingly, awareness in the UK (14%) and Canada (13%) was similar to that of Australia.
However, despite the lack of awareness of the circular economy concept, 34% of Aussie respondents indicated they did know about the concept but didn’t know the name. This result highlights the need for companies to educate their consumers about the terminology. Businesses looking to adopt circular economy practices may want to communicate this in their marketing efforts to customers by linking it with familiar terms such as recycling and remanufacturing.
Although only 3% of participants said that when buying a product they always consider whether a company applies circular economy principles in its processes, a third (34%) sometimes take this into account. Additionally, 42% of the respondents said that when purchasing a product they would like to have the option of considering whether a company had applied circular economy principles in their processes. Sustainable brands in Australia could therefore communicate their environmentally friendly practices to potential customers through informative packaging or digital marketing channels such as social media to help raise awareness.
Consumers genuinely believe in companies’ environmental efforts
Do companies use greenwashing tactics to market their products or are they genuinely invested in doing good for the environment?
Although consumers recognise that companies are also motivated by economic goals, the majority (53%) of respondents are confident that a company’s primary motivation is a genuine belief to mitigate environmental issues by aligning with circular economy practices Companies can build on this by reporting their efforts and results in a simple and transparent way and substantiating any claims.
Economic opportunities and government incentives may encourage businesses to adopt and practise sustainable measures to reduce waste. However, only 35% of the respondents felt this was one of the main reasons a company invested in the circular economy.
Despite consumers believing that a company is genuinely invested in sustainable business practices, the majority of respondents still feel companies could do much more. We investigated further to find out where consumers think companies could best focus their efforts.
Recycling is the most valued sustainability effort
For companies to gain consumer confidence in their sustainable business practices, we asked our survey respondents what they thought would be the most admirable or effective efforts a company could take to stimulate the circular economy. The following infographic shows the six most valued sustainability efforts, each selected by at least 60% of respondents.
We dug a little deeper to establish which business sectors our survey-takers perceived as the most and least invested in adopting circular economy practices. Of the eight industry options provided, 61% of the respondents said the furniture industry was ‘highly’ or ‘somewhat’ invested. The furniture sector has already developed a research project, ‘ Furniture 360’ with a circular economy approach to the way Australia manufactures furniture and to provide industry opportunities for growth and sustainability.
The chemical industry was perceived as the least invested; 71% of respondents said the sector was ‘not very invested’ or ‘not invested at all’.
Significantly, there is divided opinion among survey-takers when it comes to the construction industry, which around half (51%) see as ‘highly’ or ‘somewhat’ invested in the circular economy. Although the sector generates the majority of waste in Australia, the construction waste stream is the country’s largest source of managed waste and 76% of it is recycled.
Australians are divided on willingness to pay more for sustainable products
Consumers have highlighted that although they don’t always take circular economy principles into consideration when making purchasing decisions, they would like the option to choose environmentally friendly products. Also, considering that consumers think companies should be doing more to reduce waste, we asked our respondents if they would pay a higher price for a product made through circular economy practices. A little over half (51%) of the respondents said they were unwilling to pay more.
Of the respondents willing to pay extra, the majority (57%) said they were only willing to pay up to 10% more for products made using environmentally friendly principles. Just over a third (35%) would pay between 10 and 20% extra, and only 5% indicated they would pay over 20% more. Companies would need to factor this in when considering adopting circular economy practices if the transition to these processes involved extra costs. Businesses will need to conduct a thorough analysis of the market, including an evaluation of market conditions, competition, promotions, and product availability to determine the optimal price for their products.
Focus on raising consumer awareness of the circular economy
Our survey findings suggest that although many Australians appear to lack awareness of the circular economy concept, they are not very satisfied with the actions companies are taking to reduce waste. Businesses should communicate their sustainability efforts to customers, but also educate consumers about how they can participate in circular economy practices and investigate the extent to which they’re prepared to do so.
While it’s positive that consumers see company environmental efforts as genuine more than profit-led, sometimes production and other business process changes can incur costs, especially in the short term. However, while consumers want to see more sustainable business practices, it appears many are not prepared to pay more for sustainable products.
One way Australian consumers may already be contributing to the circular economy is through the buying and selling of second-hand products. In the second article of this two-part series, we explore consumer habits within the second-hand market which may translate into sustainable efforts to promote the circular economy.
Methodology:
To collect this data, we conducted an online survey in July and August 2022 in the following countries: Australia (1,013 participants), Netherlands (1,014 participants), Spain (1,009 participants), France (1,010 participants), UK (1,027), Canada (1.006), and Germany (1,010 participants). The 7,089 candidates had to fulfil the following criteria:
- Resident in Australia, Netherlands, Spain, France, UK, Canada or Germany
- Above the age of 18
- Must have identified the generation they belong to
- Understands the concept of a circular economy (after being shown a definition, respondents were able to select the correct description of a circular economy from a choice of three)
