Understanding individuals’ preferences and behaviours as a contribution to the design of effective circular waste policies in Portugal

Abstract Waste reduction, reuse, and recycling are simple and effective individual practices for waste management policies, but several factors hinder their widespread adoption. This paper aims to explore and understand the role of personal characteristics, such as political stance, connectedness to nature and risk preferences, in the perception and consequences of waste generation, and how it can impact circular waste practices. The paper builds on the results of an online survey of 400 residents in Portugal. The results indicate a statistically significant relationship between individual recycling and circular economy behaviours and his connectedness to nature, perception, and concern for waste management. Moreover, it demonstrates statistically significant differences between waste-related behaviours, particularly attitudes toward preventing waste generation and promoting end-of-life alternatives. The paper further explains the role that individual characteristics, in particular gender, play in explaining individuals’ behaviours concerning eight waste circular practices. Moreover, the paper stresses the role of unobserved heterogeneity in individuals’ recycling and circular behaviours through the application of an LCM. Furthermore, the results illustrate the need to encourage differentiated interventions for each waste policy objective and to include individual personal ideology and norms in designing policy interventions.