Behavioral Insight- a Nudge towards circular economy

Innovation methods

Data sources

Scaling

SDG(s)

Sustainable Development Goal(s)

11Sustainable cities and communities

12Responsible consumption and production

15Life on land

17Partnerships for the goals

Disclaimer:

Please be aware that the content herein has not been peer reviewed. It consists of personal reflections, insights, and learnings of the contributor(s). It may not be exhaustive, nor does it aim to be authoritative knowledge.

Overview

Prepared by (Name of the experimenter)

Kunzang Wangmo

On date (Day/Month/Year)

30 July 2021

Current status of experimental activity

Completed

What portfolio does this activity correspond to? If any

Circular Economy

What is the frontier challenge does this activity responds to?

Plastic waste circularity towards the Zero Waste Bhutan.

What is the learning question(from your action learning plan) is this activity related to?

How to bring circularity to the plastic waste by scaling up effort through private sector partnership.

Please categorize the type that best identifies this experimental activity:

Fully Randomised (RCTs, etc.)

Which sector are you partnering with for this activity? Please select all that apply

Public Sector, Private Sector, Civil Society/ NGOs

Please list the names of partners mentioned in the previous question:

1. The Coca Cola Foundation 2. Waste service providers/handlers located in the community level. 3. Local governments

Design

Does the activity use a control group for comparison?

Yes, a different group entirely

How is the intervention assigned to different groups in your experiment?

Random assignment

What is the learning intent of the activity?

Inform Royal Government of Bhutan's waste flagship program where the government is bringing in policy change by introducing 3rd stream of waste at the household level. The 3rd stream of waste is household hazardous waste and RED color bin is introduced for it.

What is the object being tested?

Three colored bins. Green bin for wet waste; Blue bin for dry waste; and RED bin for household hazardous waste (new stream of waste)

What is the timeline of the experimental activity?

Eight months

Describe the methodology of the experimental activity. For example, sample size and selection; data collection technique; collaboration; randomization technique; data analysis technique

The 600 plus households were randomly selected from among the 7,000 plus households in Changzamtog and categorized into three groups. Group 1: Control: 200 households Group 2: Treatment 1: 200 households were provided with 3 colored bins + information Group 3: Treatment 2: 200 households were provided with 3 colored bins + information + feedback The neighborhood was identified for its good representation of households with diverse needs and socio-economic status. Random selection and allocation of the household in separate groups allowed cancellation of our biasness.

Quality Check

This activity is relevant to a CPD outcome, The hypothesis is clearly stated, This activity offers strong collaboration oportunities, This activity offers a high potential for scaling

What are the resources required for this experiment?

Behavioral Insight Experts: we hired BIT Australia. They were engaged with us remotely.

Please upload any supporting links

Review

Reviewer's name

Results

What were the key results?

Segregation of dry waste (Blue Bin) Our estimates of the treatment effect are between: ●Bins + Information: 6.3 and 8.4 percentage points ●Bins + Feedback: 7.2 and 10.7 percentage points No impact on wet waste (Green bin) Hazardous waste in dry and wet bins declines with introduction of red bins.

What were the key insights of this experiment?

“We thought it was going to be an easy task but the first day of our survey, we realized it was challenging and tedious. Food scrapes and other waste from outside the surrounding were found in dry waste bins. Segregation was not at all meticulous. We came across condoms, torn underwear, metals and broken glasses while sifting through the waste. The survey indirectly made us cultivate new lessons every collection day.”

Any observations about the methodology?

RCT can be as expensive Difficult to control interventions in a social setup so applying RCT for social challenge have to adjust the contaminations.

Time it took to implement

Eight months

Any additional comments?

Please include supporting links

Considering the outcomes of this experimental activity, which of the following best describe what happened after? (Please select all that apply)

This experiment influenced public policy at a national or local level, This experiment led to resource mobilization

Context

Innovation methods

Data sources

Scaling

SDG(s)

Sustainable Development Goal(s)

11Sustainable cities and communities

12Responsible consumption and production

15Life on land

17Partnerships for the goals

Comments

Kunzang Wangmo

July 18, 2024

The social experiment on waste led to resource mobilization on circular intervention on plastic waste.

Kunzang Wangmo

July 18, 2024

The social experiment on waste led to resource mobilization on circular intervention on plastic waste.

Experiment