Segmenting households according to recycling attitudes in a Portuguese urban area

Increasing citizens’ participation in recycling programs has been a priority in the environmental policies of developed countries as part of a global strategy to manage the problem of excessive solid waste production. Understanding citizens’ recycling behaviour, and the underlying attitudes and motivations, is crucial to the delineation of efficient future recycling programs. In this paper we apply cluster analysis to segment households in a Portuguese urban area according to attitudes towards recycling. The outcomes reveal three segments, one positive towards recycling and the other two reluctant or indifferent to participating in recycling. We discuss how the segmentation found can be used to customise market-communication actions aimed at stimulating participation in recycling.