Nudging sustainable behaviour in youth accommodation (BE)

Waste sorting habits can vary widely between home, school, and youth accommodations. This confusion leads to poor recycling performance and unnecessary waste, especially during group stays. The tourism sector has an opportunity to change that. Starting with its youngest guests.

Children are tomorrow’s tourists. By using nudging techniques and circular examples in youth accommodation, this pilot promotes better waste behaviour and long-term awareness. It also supports hosts in embedding sustainability without adding complexity.

• Stakeholder sessions with youth accommodation providers
• Waste analyses to identify sorting barriers
• Collaborative design of second-phase interventions
• Development of tools to guide behaviour through simple prompts and cues

Coordinated by Westtoer, with support from:

• CJT (youth accommodation federation)
• Fostplus (sorting & recycling)
• OVAM (waste policy)
• Youth accommodations: Hoge Duin, J-Club, De Barkentijn, De Zeekameel, Duin en Zee, Merkenveld

• Tested and adaptable nudges that improve waste sorting
• Hands-on examples of circular solutions
• Inspiration for the broader youth tourism sector
• A model that makes sustainable behaviour simple and repeatable