University of North Texas 
At the University of North Texas, an ongoing research project is transforming the
way Texans in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and across the state participate in recycling.
Collaborating with the Texas chapter of the Solid Waste Association of North America
(TxSWANA), graduate students in UNT’s Department of Anthropology are conducting surveys and interviews with residents across the North Texas region
to learn more about their recycling habits. The project, which began in 2022 as part
of a master’s-level course, seeks to understand more about the underlying causes of
recycling contamination.
“Contamination happens when food, liquid or hazardous chemicals on recycled materials
keep them from being properly processed,” says Jamie Johnson (pictured right), a senior
lecturer in anthropology who led the project. “These items get sorted out and sent
to our landfills. Those landfills are finite resources, so that’s a huge concern.”
Using landfills to capacity isn’t the only consequence of recycling contamination. Many materials reclamation facilities (MRF) use human labor for sorting recyclables. When contaminated materials — also known as “non-programmatic materials” — enter an MRF, human workers may be at risk of injury. Certain types of non-programmatic materials can even break machinery within the facilities.
Johnson, an applied urban anthropologist who specializes in studying the built environment
and infrastructure, started the project in Fall 2022 as part of her graduate qualitative
and ethnographic research methods course. The first year of the project focused on
residents in multi-family homes such as apartment complexes, while the second and
third years focused on single-family homes. The class gave special attention to homes
on “contaminated routes,” or waste pickup routes that routinely produce high levels
of contaminated recycling.
“We’re looking for what people know about recycling, both what happens at the municipal
and state levels and how each household handles it,” Johnson says.
Each Fall semester, Johnson’s students recruit study participants and design research
protocols for online surveys and in-person interviews. Participants answer questions
about their recycling practices, which household members are responsible for recycling,
and their general ideas and opinions about recycling.
Collected data is transcribed and analyzed using qualitative analysis software, allowing students to identify patterns and trends. The conclusions drawn from the data allow the class to make recommendations that can improve recycling education and practices — for example, eliminating “wishcycling” by clarifying the types of materials that can be recycled by different municipalities, since not all cities can recycle the same materials. The class’s research findings also prompted recommendations for cities and municipalities to support avowed recyclers by sending nuanced instructions through a variety of communication channels.
While reducing contamination lessens strain on the environment, infrastructure and
sanitation workers, there are other advantages. Improved recycling methods lead to
more efficient use of municipal budgets, directly benefiting surrounding communities.
Increased awareness of proper recycling practices also can result in better sanitation
outcomes for lower-income neighborhoods.
“With this project, students are actually learning about the cities where they live
and how to really effect change,” Johnson says.
Brian Boerner (’86, ’95 M.S.), president of TxSWANA and director of Solid Waste for
the city of Denton, says the project is helping citizens take direct action toward
that positive change.
“This cutting-edge research focuses on how people receive and understand recycling
information,” says Boerner, a UNT alumnus who holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry
and a master’s degree in environmental science. “By equipping those who manage recycling
programs with this type of data, they’ll be able to steward better habits in their
communities, resulting in the collection of cleaner, higher-quality recyclables.”
“By equipping those who manage recycling programs with this type of data, they’ll be able to steward better habits in their communities, resulting in the collection of cleaner, higher-quality recyclables.”
-Brian Boerner, president of TxSWANA and director of Solid Waste for the city of Denton
Boerner says the surveys and interviews conducted by the UNT team provide the city’s waste management program with valuable insights about the individuals who handle recycling in their households. By identifying their audience, the city is able to deliver messaging and information about proper recycling practices through targeted advertisements and educational materials.
Hannah Morrison, a third-year applied anthropology master’s student, worked on the
project during its first year. Of the 10 North Texas cities that participated, the
city of Dallas was assigned to Morrison, who also conducted interviews with Denton
residents.
“I was active in making sure we did as much as possible to get surveys out to people.
We also were doing one-on-one interviews with residents,” she says.
Morrison credits the project with improving her awareness of waste and recycling.
It also inspired her to pursue an urban focus for her master’s thesis project, with
Johnson as her advisor.
“Being part of a formal research project showed me this was something I could do,”
Morrison says. “I’m strongly leaning toward a career in consulting, thanks to the
TxSWANA project and my current thesis project.”