Gen Z Recycling During COVID-19: Are We in It Together?

Abstract

The global annual waste generated every year is more than two billion tonnes (Statista, 2025), and when this waste is disposed of in landfills, it adversely affects many people’s lives. Recycling can not only reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills, but reusing resources is also good for the environment (Biswas et al., 2021, Waste-Wise Cities: Best Practices in Municipal Solid Waste Management). While recycling has been around for some time, there is scant research on whether Gen Z’s recycling behaviour, in particular, has become a habit and is therefore here to stay or not. The global pandemic caused by COVID-19 provides an apt backdrop to evaluate whether or not recycling has become a way of life for Gen Z. This study is based on a survey conducted through a questionnaire that was administered to undergraduate students. With the onset of COVID-19, more effort is being spent on understanding the importance of public health and how one person’s well-being affects another person in a neighbourhood. Gen Zs, who arguably constitute a significant group of decision-makers that will affect the future of recycling, will determine the success of future recycling endeavours. Therefore, understanding the decision-making of this group will help in advancing research that specifically studies how a nation’s sustainability agenda can be strengthened.