Changes in household recycling behavior: Evidence from panel data

This article uses a longitudinal national U.S. dataset with 232,309 pairs of same-household observations to estimate one-year or two-year changes in recycling behavior. Most households recycled at least one material, as 83% recycle paper, cans, glass, or plastic in the past year, with an average recycling rate of 2.8 materials. Recycling habits are stable, as 68% of households do not change the number of materials recycled from the previous year. Changes in county recycling are reflected in immediate changes in household behavior but at 25% of the change in the county recycling rate. Recycling rates are greater after being newly exposed to deposit laws (+7%), moving to a state with effective recycling laws (+6%), or newly available single-stream recycling (+4%). If market prices for the returned cans doubled, household recycling of cans would increase by 12%, although price responsiveness of recycling other materials is less. Shocks to the household may diminish recycling in the short term, including marriage (−2%), arrival of a newborn (−1%), and either large increase in income (−1%) or large decrease in income (−3%). The estimates for the total number of materials and which particular materials a household recycles follow similar patterns. •A third of US households alter recycling, many due to personal and policy changes.•Recycling laws, deposits, and single-stream are associated with increased recycling.•Increases in prices for cans and glass are associated with increases in recycling.•Household shocks such as a 20% change in income or a newborn child disrupt recycling.•More than 80% of US households recycled at least one material in the past year.