Behaviour change for a circular economy in Brighton & Hove

A four-month Make Materials Matter pilot rewarded Brighton & Hove residents for activities supporting sustainability, such as recycling, repairing, loaning and up-skilling.

Brighton & Hove City Council ran Make Materials Matter as part of the EU’s BLUEPRINT to a Circular Economy. The aim was to encourage behaviour change to increase the amount of sharing, reuse, repair and household recycling and reduce associated waste.

As a result, 79 per cent of participants understood the role of recycling better at the end of the pilot, and nearly a third were recycling electrical items and appliances more frequently.

Make Materials Matter was open to all residents of Brighton and Hove. Rewards were earned for using places such as zero-waste shops, repair shops and recycling points, and for taking part in surveys and competitions that evaluated and encouraged activity.

Surveys and competitions were delivered directly through the BetterPoints app. Location-based activities were tracked by scanning a QR code into the app.

Rewards were aligned with the council’s Waste Hierarchy: a higher level of incentives was attached to activities with greater impact or requiring greater effort.

Three mini challenges helped to increase engagement: a Halloween sustainable costume competition, a sustainable holiday pledge and a zero-waste holiday wishlist challenge.

Behaviour change in waste reduction and changes in attitude were evaluated using baseline and end-of-pilot Evaluation Surveys. Shorter, in-app surveys and quizzes assessed participants’ knowledge and attitudes.