Another factor that explains the mismatch between the awareness of the plastic waste problem and people’s behavior is the feeling of being responsible for the problem. While consumers often report feelings of worry, they do shift the responsibility to other social actors. It is true that you can’t point a finger to one actor or sector in society, but it is important that everyone feels responsible to some degree. Research found that only 40% of the respondents think that responsibility should be shared equally among consumers, retailers, producers and the government. A considerate part of the people (27%) believes that the companies which produce the packaged goods should take the most responsibility. 11% believes it is the problem of the government and only 3% lays the responsibility at the door of consumers.
This influences the things people are willing to do to help solve the plastic waste problem. While many say they would take steps towards solving the problem, few say they would do things that would cost them money or ask too much effort. For example, only 12% of the respondents would pay extra for products that have no packaging that can’t be recycled.