Fost Plus

Uncovering the hidden barriers to recycling

Waste Research Citizens Belgium

The Challenge

The conscious reasons people recycle are well studied; the unconscious ones are not. Fost Plus, Belgium’s leading packaging-recycling organisation, asked us to surface the hidden attitudes and biases that shape how citizens sort waste, and which products they instinctively treat as more, or less, their responsibility.

Our Approach

We designed an implicit research study built around seven everyday products found in public spaces, from drink cans and bottles to snack wrappers and fast-food packaging. Using a Rapid Association Test and a Forced-Choice Test with 200 citizens, we measured both instinctive reactions and deliberate choices, grounded in a review of 100 scientific articles.

The Result

We gave Fost Plus a clear map of the perceptions driving recycling. Citizens saw drink cans and plastic bottles as highly polluting, but judged paper cups and fast-food packaging as harmless, a misconception about their biodegradability. Those blind spots now guide how Fost Plus targets its communication and makes better sorting easier.

“The success of our mission depends on people gradually and consistently changing their behaviour. We cannot rely solely on information, sanctions or guilt to drive commitment to proper waste sorting. That’s why understanding the unconscious factors that shape these behaviours is critical.”

Dominique Siplet

Marketing & Communications Director

Fost Plus