The 10th Ipsos survey for the Vinci Autoroutes Foundation shows no improvement in French people's waste management on holiday roads. For the third year running, 27% admit to throwing litter from car windows on motorways, and 41% in public spaces. Young people are no more environmentally conscious, and risk awareness is falling. Waste sorting has also declined at rest areas. The Foundation highlights these persistent bad habits and introduces a new awareness campaign using humor to foster better practices.

For the past three years, the behaviour of French people has not improved when it comes to waste management on holiday roads: this is the finding of a new study by the Vinci Autoroutes Foundation.

This summer, the Vinci Autoroutes Foundation published the results of the 10th edition of the survey on waste management on holiday roads, conducted by Ipsos. And it’s safe to say these results do not point to any major educational progress in this area…

 

A bad reflex

 

"The survey shows that, for the past three years, the behaviour of the French has not improved, and awareness of the risks is clearly decreasing. As in 2022 and 2023, 27% of French people say they throw their waste out of the car window when driving on the motorway, and even 41% admit doing so in public spaces," notes the Vinci Autoroutes Foundation. The Foundation also highlights a growing underestimation of the risks caused by such behaviour. For instance, only 59% of French respondents (compared to 69% in 2022) believe that throwing waste out of a car window can cause a serious fire hazard, and just 64% (compared to 71% in 2022) think it poses a risk to biodiversity.

The reflex to immediately throw waste out the window sadly remains widespread, despite improvements in sorting facilities available to drivers: "More than 1 in 10 French people (12%) admit to immediately discarding waste from their car, without waiting to find a bin—even though 100% of motorway rest areas are equipped with them, which means every 10 minutes of travel," the Foundation points out.

Credit: Ipsos.com

 

Young people not any more virtuous

 

Perhaps even more concerning: young people are not more sensitive to proper waste management than their elders. 40% of respondents under the age of 35 say they throw waste out of the window while driving on the motorway, whether it’s organic waste (32%), cigarette butts (36% of smokers), paper and packaging (21%), or even plastic bottles and cans (19%).

 

A very selective sorting

 

The study also looks into how well motorway users sort their waste, even though all service and rest areas along the concessionary motorway network are now equipped for selective waste collection. On this point, the Vinci Autoroutes Foundation notes a clear drop in behaviour from “holiday-mode French people” compared to “at-home French people”: "76% of French people say they regularly sort their waste at rest areas—that’s 15 points lower than in their daily lives." Impatience and lack of understanding of sorting instructions are the main culprits for this drop: "46% of French people who don’t systematically sort their waste on rest areas—nearly 1 in 2—say they act quickly and use the nearest bin, and 31% say they simply don’t know how to do it," notes the Foundation.

To encourage motorists to adopt the right habits, a new awareness campaign has been launched—with just the right touch of humour to help the message stick.

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