Questionnaires: Consumers (C)

The Final Consumer is the most vulnerable link in this investigation. It was expected that the (possible) total cost generated by the implementation of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive in the Supply Chain, was going to be pushed to this link in the supply chain.

Each one of the consumers represented themselves (in contrast with the other links, where each one of the respondents represented a company). In Questions C2 and C3, Consumers were asked if they participated in any environmental organisation and if they are aware of environmental problems.

These questions were included in order to measure the sensitivity of the participants and their level of awareness concerning environmental problems. In a second stage, C2 and C3 would act as a barometer for all of the following questions. The comparison of these questions is with C14, where the participants were asked to state the most common factor affecting their buying decisions. This shows that the more informed consumers are the more their consuming decisions are based on the environmental friendliness of a product. Furthermore, it could be concluded that a well informed customer could impact (using consuming power), on the use of environmental friendly materials, so reducing in this way the environmental impact.

Questions C4 and C5 asked participants if they recycled the packaging they use. Answers are based on a Likert scale to categorize them from the most common to the least common material that they recycle. This will show the trend in the habits of the consumers and furthermore, to verify –comparing them with the results of the other questionnaires-, what is the most common material sent for recycling.

When interviewing the final consumers, it was decided not to ask them anything concerning reuse or incineration of packaging but instead to use recycling as a broad measure of environmental protection. This was for three main reasons:

Chapter 5 -Analysis and discussion

190 2. recycling is the most well known process in Greece,

3. the final consumers –in most of the cases- carry their waste materials to the “recycling bins” placed near their homes. So, they don’t know whether these materials are sent for recycling, reusing, disposing or incineration. They just refer to the process with the general term “recycling”.

Questions C6 and C7 asked consumers if they had ever destroyed a product due to improper handling of its packaging and if they have ever received a damaged product due to improper packaging. These questions were selected in order to underline the importance of packaging. As already cited, packaging is very important in the protection of goods and products. Improper or unsuitable packaging can cause various problems, from destroyed or inconvenient products to environmental aggravation (e.g. through disposing, energy consumption for the manufacturing of new products etc.).

In addition, C6 and C7 were going to be combined with the outcomes of PM10 and IC12 where Packaging Manufacturers and the individual Industrial Customers were asked if they tend to lighten their packaging in order to reduce the costs that they will be called to pay after the implementation of the Packaging Directive by the government, based on the principle that the taxes will be weight- based. It was expected that the Packaging Manufacturers and the Industrial Customers would be positive in doing whatever they could do to decrease their costs (in this case, to lighten the packaging). However the outcomes of C6 and C7 (in case where the answers would show high percentages of damage to products due to improper packaging), would be the alert that the packaging quality should be unaffected in such cases, in order to avoid destruction of the product itself that could cause further environmental aggravation.

The purpose of Questions C8, C9 and C11 was to evaluate the level of awareness of the Directive and the acceptance of such measures by individual consumers. It was expected that initially the consumers would be positive to the Directive. This, would be especially underlined by the answers to Question 10, where they were asked if they thought that the implementation of the measure would be affordable by the companies and it was expected that most of the answers would be either positive or “I don’t care”. However, we expected that when the consumers would come to answer C14, (dealing with the basic element affecting their buying habits), they would pick the “Price” element (in most of the cases) and not the “Environmental Friendliness” of the product. This, would show a contradiction and a

191 possible consuming-attitude of substituting the products surcharged with environmental taxes, with others costing less money to the consumer.

Here again, the issue of the competition from non-European Union companies would emerge and result in a real problem for the domestic (European) companies. This is especially true for countries such as Greece, located in Southern Eastern Europe, far away from the centre of the EU and the main mass of the consumers and surrounded by other countries (outside of the European Union) such as: Albania, Serbia, FYROM, Turkey, where the protection of the environment is still at an infant level (and the environmental taxes as well).

Question C12 asked Consumers the cost-related question, as already cited above. It was expected that most of the participants would reply that after the implementation of the Directive and the new taxes imposed by the government, the prices of the products would be increased. (The specific issue has been described above).

In Question C13, consumers were asked what process they thought was better, concerning the four basic materials used in packaging, after the completion of its purpose: recycling, reuse, incineration or disposing. This question was selected in an effort to evaluate the opinions of the consumers for what is relevant to these available processes and measure the trends in their willingness, in pushing for environmentally friendly measures. The process of Recycle was expected to be the most popular answer.

In general, consumers as a whole are forcing the market one or the other way, so they constitute the most powerful link that could drive the market in a more environmentally friendly way of doing business.

Furthermore, investigating the level of awareness of the civilians and the way that this knowledge affects the market and its progress in environmental issues, could use the results of this question in order to compare them with those of the future and prove if there was progress in the way that the future supply chain operates and at what level.