14–16 September 2026 | Osaka, Japan
The Mid-Term Workshop of the project Behavioural Insights for Better Waste Management was held on 14–16 September 2026 at the Morinomiya Campus of Osaka Metropolitan University (OMU), Osaka, Japan. It was organised by the Global Environment Centre Foundation (GEC) with the United Nations Environment Programme International Environmental Technology Centre (UNEP-IETC), Osaka City, OMU and the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), with funding from Lloyd's Register Foundation. Its purpose was to test the project's mid-term findings with practitioners before the final report is drafted, and to learn from peers and from Osaka's experience. Seventy-five participants of 21 nationalities attended the workshop, including project partners, municipal policymakers, researchers, international organizations, private companies and youth. Participants represented all major global regions, with strong participation from the Global South (48%), including Small Island Developing States (SIDS), and balanced gender representation (45% female participants). Ninety-seven per cent of the participants rated the workshop very useful or extremely valuable and they named fragmented responsibility and funding as the main barriers to applying behavioural insights in their own work.
Workshop sessions
In 2023, the world generated 2.1 billion tonnes of municipal solid waste, and this is projected to reach 3.8 billion tonnes by 2050. Adding more collection trucks and more landfills cannot keep pace. The roots of waste mismanagement also lie in production and consumption, which are shaped by everyday decisions, so those everyday behaviours are where change can start.
The three-day workshop covered foundational evidence on Day 1, tools and practical applications on Day 2, and site visits to four recycling facilities across the Osaka region on Day 3. On Day 1, Sessions 1 and 2 presented project progress and research activities conducted to date, while Sessions 3 and 4 featured academic lectures on behaviour change and social marketing combined with interactive group activities to strengthen and expand the discussions. On Day 2, Session 5 focused on data and financial tools for driving behaviour change, whereas Session 6 highlighted the importance of inclusive approaches to strengthen these strategies. The indoor programme concluded with a special showcase of Osaka City’s waste management initiatives and technologies, leading into the field visits on Day 3, where participants got to know companies deploying green technologies and circular business models in Osaka.
The workshop confirmed the direction of the project's analysis, sharpened its recommendations and identified two new priorities for the second half of the project. Participants endorsed investing beyond collection across the full waste chain and combining global surveys with community-held data. They broadened the recommendation on youth engagement to habit formation for all age groups. The new recommendations are identifying who actually handles waste at each stage for effective interventions and understanding how finance and markets determine whether behaviour change lasts.
In a closing reflection, participants called for greater engagement of young people as agents of change, improved methods for measuring behaviour change, and longer-term planning horizons. UNEP-IETC Programme Officer Felipe Dall summarized four key messages in "Y.M.C.A.":
- Youth engagement: to promote societal change within one generation, with each participant encouraged to commit with the implementation of at least one “zero waste school”;
- Management of time and expectations: changes take time and efforts to change behaviour and improve waste management need to start today with long-term view;
- Change the vision: from more collection trucks and landfills to less waste generation;
- Accessible: make the desired behaviour fun, easy and popular
What Comes Next
The project team will reflect these results in its revised recommendations and extend the analysis based on the outcomes. It will also consider participants' proposals for a series of webinars and a co-design training workshop. The final project report is due in January 2027.
