“Single-use beverage cups are one of the top ten items found littered on beaches around the world. Globally, over 500 billion single-use cups are consumed annually, of which between 250 and 300 billion are plastic-lined paper cups“ (UNEP, 2021). Single-use plastic pollution is a significant global environmental issue. In 2019, the UN Environment Assembly highlighted this problem, urging Member States to collaborate on solutions. That same year, the EU decided to ban various single-use plastic products "where sustainable alternatives are easily available and affordable," effective from July 3rd, 2021.
One solution is to decrease the use of single-use cups, by increasing the adoption of reusable cups. Therefore, in its goal to reduce the use of single-use cups and food containers with 50% until 2026 compared to 2022 Swedish policy has taken a first step by introducing a new ordinance on January 1st 2024.Ther ordinance requires coffee shops, fast food restaurants and other establishments to offer customers a reusable cup or food-container in a circular system, as an alternative to single-use ones (Förordning [2021:996] Om Engångsprodukter, 2024). While this ordinance is a step in the direction of more reusable cups being used, more will be needed to actually engage customers.
Nudging is a powerful set of techniques rooted in psychology, economics and behavioural sciences, aimed at promoting desired behaviours (Thaler & Sunstein, 2008). By making small changes to the environment around our choices and behaviours, desirable actions can be promoted, even without significantly altering financial incentives or forbidding certain options. First coined by Thaler and Sunstein in their 2008 book "Nudge - Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness", these techniques have gained significant traction due to their effectiveness and simplicity. While initially focused on behaviour benefitting the individual (pro-self nudges), attention has shifted towards pro-social nudges that benefit society. Specific emphasis has been placed on green nudges aimed at mitigating environmental impacts caused by human activities (Carlsson et al., 2021).
A motivating factor behind nudging lies in bridging the intention-action gap, that individuals express a desire to engage in certain behaviours but struggle to follow through. Nudges act as facilitators, making sustainable choices more accessible without impeding freedom of choice. Nudges have previously been successfully used to promote a wide range of sustainable behaviour, including increasing vegetarian lunch uptake (Hansen et al., 2021), reducing food waste (Hansen et al., 2013) and increasing charitable donations (Gråd et al., 2021).
Commissioned by the Swedish EPA, WRAP (2023) analysed existing evidence of nudge techniques and conducted interviews with key stakeholders and customers to create a Playbook on possibilities for green nudges to be used to enhance the uptake of reusable cups in coffee shops, fast food restaurants and similar establishments. As a follow-up project, we have designed and implemented a series of nudges in Nordic cities, and this report presents the nudges implemented, results, discussion, and further recommendations.