Complementarity vs substitutability in waste management behaviors

•Waste reduction and recycling are potentially driven by different motivators, and can be interlinked.•We investigate the relationship between waste reduction and recycling efforts.•Our theoretical and empirical results suggest that the two efforts are complements.•Waste policies and environmental motivations may affect waste behaviors both directly and indirectly.•Indirect effects are transmitted by the complementarity across efforts.

Both the economic and psychological literature suggest that household waste reduction and recycling behaviors are driven by different motivators. In this article, we investigate whether any relationship exists between waste reduction and recycling efforts and, in this case, if they turn out to be complements or substitutes in individuals' preferences. Our theoretical results, supported by empirical evidence for England, suggest that waste policies and environmental motivations may affect recycling and waste reduction both directly and indirectly, through their reciprocal interactions.