Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate how residents changed their evaluation of a new collection system of strict separation between recyclable and non-recyclable materials. The new system was introduced to three areas successively over 15 months. The social survey was conducted as a quasi-experiment to compare residents' evaluations of three areas before and after the system's introduction. Each group of 210 respondents were selected from one area before the introduction and two areas after the introduction.
The main results were as follows. The general evaluation of the collection system became more positive after its introduction. Before introduction of the new system, residents, who read the town newsletters and participated in a special neighborhood meeting, evaluated the social benefits of the new system more positively. After introduction, the residents, who now had a behavioral commitment to the new system, evaluated the personal costs of the system more positively.
