Behaviour Change becomes subsidiary of WRAP

Since 5 January, Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) and social enterprise Behaviour Change have partnered to develop public behaviour interventions.

In a statement, the pair stated that together they ‘aim to empower the public to make conscious changes to the items they buy and use everyday’. The partnership brings together the capabilities of the two organisations, spanning ‘behavioural insights and strategies, piloting, testing and scaling interventions’, as well as communicating with the public through citizen campaigns.

The partnership, the two organisations say, will improve environmental messaging with partner businesses, supporting climate commitments made by organisations and governments, and supporting business-specific national targets.

WRAP’s CEO, Marcus Gover, stated: “The world is in the middle of a climate emergency. We have the perfect storm of a growing global population consuming more resources and putting greater pressure on nature. With nearly half of all UK emissions associated with the products we use we must change public behaviour about how we shop, eat, dress and dispose of things.

“If we don’t, we won’t begin to address climate change and will significantly undermine our ability to cut emissions. Changing behaviour at scale can generate huge benefits and together Behaviour Change and WRAP will drive forward change through the businesses and governments we work with – here and around the world – and through our work with the public.”

David Hall, Executive Director of Behaviour Change, added: “Behavioural science has come a long way since we set up Behaviour Change in 2009, with more and more organisations now recognising that human behaviour lies at the heart of the challenges they face. We all know that people have a tendency to make decisions that are against their own interests and those of society and the planet.

“We are focused on learning about what really works to change behaviour for the better and then scaling it up. Working hand in hand with WRAP will enable us to do this in bigger, more effective ways that start to answer the huge sustainability challenges that both organisations exist to tackle. This new partnership is all about impact and we are excited about the new possibilities it will bring.”

In December 2021, WRAP partnered with Asda and Unilever to explore retail opportunities for refilling and reusing within supermarkets. This followed the publication of its food waste report in September, which detailed the UK’s progression to halving food loss and waste by 2030, as well as the release of its report on national progress in meat waste reduction.

In July 2021, the organisation also extended its Courtauld commitment from 2021 to 2030, which brings together more than 80 UK organisations to tackle nationwide food waste.