Plastic Waste in 2020

The supply of masks, visors, and gloves (often disposable and made from plastic) has skyrocketed. And many measures aimed at reducing plastic waste have been lifted or called into question, from coffee shops ceasing to fill customer’s reusable cups to lobbyists advocating that single-use plastic bags are the safer option. All the while, consumer attention has been diverted towards other urgent issues.

In this report, we’ll be exploring how Covid-19 has affected consumer perceptions and behaviors around plastic waste.

You may be familiar with our 2019 report into plastic waste perceptions in the US and the UK. In our 2020 report, we’ll once again use survey data (gathered using Brandwatch Qriously) and social data (gathered using Brandwatch Consumer Research) to explore consumer opinion on the topic. This year we’ll also include data from respondents in Mexico, France, Spain, Germany, Australia, and Singapore. You can find the methodology here.

In the following sections, you’ll learn:

• Consumers in the US are less worried about plastic waste this year than they were in 2019
• Worldwide, consumers are more likely to hold brands responsible for reducing or limiting the impact of plastic waste than governments
• 54% of consumers think fast food brands need to do more to reduce their use of plastic
• And much more

A lack of urgency around plastic waste in 2020

Interest in plastic waste on social media has been fairly low this year, even in months like April and June that have previously seen a lot of conversation.

This makes sense – consumers could be forgiven for thinking they have bigger fish to fry. But when asked about plastic waste specifically, how are they feeling towards it?

We asked consumers across all the countries we studied how worried they were about plastic waste. A score of 1 suggests they aren’t at all worried, while a 5 signifies they’re ‘Very worried.’

Every country has different results.

Of the countries we studied, consumers in France and Spain are most worried about plastic waste. You’ll also notice that those in the US appear to be least worried about plastic waste.

Comparing our US data to last year’s survey, we found that consumers in the country are now even less worried than in 2019. In 2019, 49% of US respondents said they were ‘worried’ or ‘very worried’ about plastic waste. In 2020, that number is 44%.

“Whether on the foreshore of the Thames or the deserted beaches of Soko, the planet is awash with pandemic plastic,” read an Economist editorial in June. The article also quoted data that suggested “consumption of single-use plastic may have grown by 250-300% in America since the coronavirus took hold.”

To get a little deeper into how the events of 2020 have affected people’s perceptions of plastic waste, we asked about plastic waste specifically in relation to Covid-19.

Again, each country has a unique worry-level in relation to the impact of Covid-19 plastic.

Of the countries studied, consumers in Australia are least likely to say they’re ‘Very worried’ about Covid-19 plastic waste, while those in France and Spain are again the most worried.

Taken in aggregate, our global audience is slightly less likely to say they’re ‘Worried’ (giving a score of 4) or ‘Very worried’ (giving a score of 5) about plastic waste in relation to Covid-19 than they are about plastic waste generally.

The additional plastic waste coming from the fight against the pandemic is not causing mass panic. The social data echoes this – between January 1 and August 23 2020, just 7% of plastic waste mentions online referenced Covid-19.

What action are people taking?

Globally, 75% of people say they’ve adopted a lifestyle that helps reduce their plastic waste.

While that’s a pretty encouraging stat, when we look at US data specifically the number has fallen (from last year’s 64% to this year’s 60%). Not only are consumers in the US less worried about plastic waste, they’re also doing less about it.

In our plastic waste survey, we asked our respondents about the kinds of items they have avoided using or buying. Globally, many people are avoiding plastic bags, straws, coffee cups, and plastic bottles.

Bags and bottles were also hot topics in global English-language conversations around plastic waste between July 2019 and July 2020.

That said, there are some inconsistencies with the survey data. The coffee cup conversation was comparatively minuscule, and while straw mentions within the plastic waste conversation were high, a lot of the discussion disputed the impact of avoiding straws (especially in comparison to the impact of abandoned plastic fishing equipment).

This kind of discrepancy shows the value in blending data sources, especially when looking for both the ‘what’ and the ‘why’ of consumer behavior. A lot of social conversation doesn’t always equal a lot of action, and vice versa.

Even if the pandemic has reframed priorities, people are worried about plastic waste and they’re taking action. Our respondents also told us that they’re willing to take an economic hit to help combat the issue – 69% answered ‘Yes’ to ‘Would you pay more for a product because it’s made of an alternative material to plastic, in order to reduce waste?’.

Who’s responsible?

Plastic waste is a global problem with implications across many sectors. With this in mind, the burden of responsibility for ‘fixing’ the problem is a difficult one to assign.

We were keen to know how consumers are thinking about who is most responsible for improving the impact of plastic waste.

It turns out it’s a mix across different countries – the majority of consumers think the onus is on the consumer. But in some countries, brands and governments were most likely to be picked.

In France and the UK, brands are considered most responsible for improving the impact of plastic waste. In Spain, it’s the government.

We’re able to compare UK and US data to last year, so we can track changes in how consumers feel.

In 2020 in the UK, consumers are less likely to think governments and NGOs are responsible for alleviating the problem than they were in 2019, and more likely to choose consumers and brands.

The same goes for consumers in the US, where brands have moved into second place as the ‘most responsible.’

Speaking of brands doing more…

What products/ industries could do more to reduce use of plastic?

As we said above, plastic waste is a problem that spans many sectors. This is reflected in As You Sow’s report Waste & Opportunity 2020 which measures the progress of 50 big companies across the beverage, quick-service restaurant, consumer packaged goods, and retail sectors. The highest rated organization got a B-. Meanwhile, 74% of the companies got a D or below.

We asked consumers about the industries and products they thought could do more about plastic waste.

Overall, 54% of consumers think the fast food industry needs to do more to reduce its plastic waste. This was followed by soft drinks (49%), household/cleaning products (39%), and fashion brands (38%).

While fast food was the most common industry on the list in most countries, in Mexico it’s soft drinks and in Spain it’s a tie between fast food and household/cleaning products.

Predictably, female respondents were more likely than male respondents to list ‘personal hygiene products’ as needing to do more to reduce plastic waste (in the question, we listed ‘tampons’ as an example product for this option).

Generally speaking, our global consumers were keen to see improvements in plastic packaging. 63% of respondents agreed that: “Where possible, brands should package goods with recyclable materials”

Other issues brands should tackle

As we covered in our recent Brand Purpose Report, consumers want businesses to stand up for what they believe in.

Alongside plastics, we asked our respondents what other issues they think brands should be working to improve.

The most common on the list were water pollution, air pollution, and palm oil/deforestation.

But these issues are seen differently depending on who’s answering the question.

For example, food waste was a popular option in Germany and Singapore (67% and 58% of consumers picked it, respectively).

Meanwhile, those aged 18-35 were more likely than those in other age groups to select ‘Animal testing’ and ‘Animal products’.

Conclusion

You’d be forgiven for thinking the above numbers are a little bleak, with the pandemic distracting consumers from the problems associated with plastic waste. That said, there is a lot to be positive about. High proportions of our respondents report worry around the issue and that they’re taking action to reduce waste. They’re also still debating how different plastic products impact the environment online and are increasingly holding brands to account.

The challenge for anti-plastic waste activists will be to drive up consumer concern for the damage single-use plastics (especially those relating to Covid-19) could be doing to the environment, to clarify the items and sectors doing the most damage, and to raise consumer awareness about them. Perceptions are not linear across age, gender, or location and depend on personal experience. If activists can bring the science to life, they can help consumers prioritize their efforts to keep plastic waste down.