Keep plastics on a tight leash: Swedish public opinion on plastic policies
Holmberg, Karl LU
and Persson, Sara
LU
(2023)
In Environmental Science and Policy
141(March 2023).
p.109-116
- Abstract
- The environmental effects of the widespread use and production of plastic have gained attention in recent years. Plastic pollution in marine environments, and limitations to systems of circularity and recycling, are increasingly recognised as serious global problems. Policies and governance around plastic are thus expected to expand in scope. This article examines the Swedish public’s opinions on plastic policies using panel survey data (N = 1069) to answer what kinds of policies and regulations hold public support in Sweden. We find that there is relatively high support among Swedes for a wide range of policies to address the issues of plastics. The greatest approval is found around soft policies e.g., the extension of already established... (More)
- The environmental effects of the widespread use and production of plastic have gained attention in recent years. Plastic pollution in marine environments, and limitations to systems of circularity and recycling, are increasingly recognised as serious global problems. Policies and governance around plastic are thus expected to expand in scope. This article examines the Swedish public’s opinions on plastic policies using panel survey data (N = 1069) to answer what kinds of policies and regulations hold public support in Sweden. We find that there is relatively high support among Swedes for a wide range of policies to address the issues of plastics. The greatest approval is found around soft policies e.g., the extension of already established regulations, recycling initiatives, and information campaigns. Regulatory and economic policies, such as taxes, bans, and stricter regulations, enjoy comparatively less support from the public, yet a majority is also supporting such measures. There are significant differences between demographic groups: women and people with a left-wing political orientation feel more positive about regulatory and economic policies than men and people with a right-wing political orientation. The most widely approved policies are those concerning recycling and waste management system developments. In contrast to other policies that involve economic incentives, the expansion of the deposit-refund scheme stands out as a policy with very high support across a wide range of groups. Overall, the widespread support for plastic regulation in Sweden indicates favourable conditions for the implementation of several plastics-related policies that go beyond the present measures. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/0900fda5-671e-4565-b5ca-edc7e6338b3a
- author
- Holmberg, Karl
LU
and Persson, Sara
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2023-01-16
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Plastics, Environmental Attitudes, Public policy, Policy support, Sweden
- in
- Environmental Science and Policy
- volume
- 141
- issue
- March 2023
- pages
- 8 pages
- publisher
- Elsevier
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85146478053
- ISSN
- 1462-9011
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.envsci.2023.01.005
- project
- STEPS – Sustainable Plastics and Transition Pathways, Phase 2
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- K.H. consolidated the idea and conceptualization of the article. K.H. formulated the survey questions. S.P. took the lead in the statistical analysis with the support of K.H. K.H. and S.P. wrote the manuscript. Both authors provided critical feedback and helped shape the analysis.
- id
- 0900fda5-671e-4565-b5ca-edc7e6338b3a
- date added to LUP
- 2023-03-01 15:37:51
- date last changed
- 2024-05-27 14:35:12
@article{0900fda5-671e-4565-b5ca-edc7e6338b3a,
abstract = {{The environmental effects of the widespread use and production of plastic have gained attention in recent years. Plastic pollution in marine environments, and limitations to systems of circularity and recycling, are increasingly recognised as serious global problems. Policies and governance around plastic are thus expected to expand in scope. This article examines the Swedish public’s opinions on plastic policies using panel survey data (N = 1069) to answer what kinds of policies and regulations hold public support in Sweden. We find that there is relatively high support among Swedes for a wide range of policies to address the issues of plastics. The greatest approval is found around soft policies e.g., the extension of already established regulations, recycling initiatives, and information campaigns. Regulatory and economic policies, such as taxes, bans, and stricter regulations, enjoy comparatively less support from the public, yet a majority is also supporting such measures. There are significant differences between demographic groups: women and people with a left-wing political orientation feel more positive about regulatory and economic policies than men and people with a right-wing political orientation. The most widely approved policies are those concerning recycling and waste management system developments. In contrast to other policies that involve economic incentives, the expansion of the deposit-refund scheme stands out as a policy with very high support across a wide range of groups. Overall, the widespread support for plastic regulation in Sweden indicates favourable conditions for the implementation of several plastics-related policies that go beyond the present measures.}},
author = {{Holmberg, Karl and Persson, Sara}},
issn = {{1462-9011}},
keywords = {{Plastics; Environmental Attitudes; Public policy; Policy support; Sweden}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{01}},
number = {{March 2023}},
pages = {{109--116}},
publisher = {{Elsevier}},
series = {{Environmental Science and Policy}},
title = {{Keep plastics on a tight leash: Swedish public opinion on plastic policies}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2023.01.005}},
doi = {{10.1016/j.envsci.2023.01.005}},
volume = {{141}},
year = {{2023}},
}