Exploring the Use of Green Nudges to Reduce Consumption of Disposable Coffee Cups in Sweden

Published on September 17, 2021

This report is a result of the work of the Behavioral Insights Working Group of the Sustainable Lifestyles and Education Programme. Following the results from the Swedish EPA’s report Next Steps: Tackling Plastic Litter – WRAP has been tasked to trial the three green nudges aimed to change individual-level citizen behaviours around single-use plastic at coffee shops in Sweden.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic’s forced closure of many businesses has made engaging with consumer pilots impossible throughout most of 2020 and 2021. In lieu of delaying project progression until COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, WRAP opted to further develop the green nudge techniques suggested in the Next Steps report, including a range of additional green nudges. WRAP also opted to test these in a nationally representative online survey environment, to gain an understanding of which green nudges might prove to be the most effective and acceptable to citizens, taking into account any impacts on business income or threats to commercial viability. This pre-trial behavioural exploration is an important early step, to avoid a potentially costly implementation of ineffectual green nudges. This report forms the basis from which pilots with coffee shops and other eligible businesses should be developed. Green nudge evaluation and implementation plans are as detailed as is possible without confirmed delivery partners, however can easily be tailored to suit specific business needs or contexts. The findings presented in this report are pre-trial insights and should be used to inform and guide the real-world pilots.