What Shapes the Recycling Engagement Among Roma Students? Exploring the Role of Infrastructure Availability and Socioeconomic Background

Due to the intersection of factors such as cultural practices, socioeconomic context and living conditions, not only the educational experiences and outcomes, but also the environmental attitudes of Roma students are potentially different from those of non-Roma students; this suggests that the commonly implemented environmental education programs and recycling awareness campaigns may not be as effective as previously assumed. Yet, empirical research focusing on Roma students’ environmental behavior remains scarce; the aim of this study is to examine the environmental attitudes and recycling behavior of Roma students to inform the existing environmental education approaches and to detect the areas that require attention. Results based on quantitative data showed that most students (57.9%) did not recycle, while the availability of recycling infrastructure emerged as a decisive factor for the respondents who reported recycling. Irrespective of their recycling engagement, most students perceived that environmental protection contributes to quality of life and acknowledged the negative impact of waste on human health. Moreover, categorical regression analysis showed that recycling engagement was associated with parents’ occupation and the place of residence. Finally, despite the socioeconomic challenges, the findings indicate an overall positive attitude towards environmental protection, challenging widespread stereotypical assumptions about this ethnic group.