Greater Manchester Combined Authority: HWRC User Survey
Background & Context
Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) commissioned M·E·L Research to undertake a comprehensive user survey across its network of Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) as part of a wider waste composition analysis programme. GMCA had set an ambition to increase household recycling rates and reduce residual household waste, requiring a stronger understanding of how residents were using HWRCs and what opportunities existed to improve recycling performance.
The research formed one element of a wider programme designed to understand the composition of domestic waste streams across kerbside collections, communal waste services and HWRCs. Specifically, the study sought to:
- Understand how residents were using HWRCs.
- Examine the types of waste being brought to sites.
- Assess user satisfaction with facilities and services.
- Explore behaviours around excess household waste disposal.
- Identify opportunities to increase recycling and material recovery.
- Inform future communications and service improvements.
The research also built upon earlier waste compositional analysis and complemented wider secondary research undertaken for GMCA regarding HWRC operations and service performance.
Approach
M·E·L Research designed and delivered a large-scale quantitative research programme covering all 20 Household Waste Recycling Centres across Greater Manchester.
The project combined several complementary research elements:
Face-to-face interviewer-administered surveys:
- Researchers approached residents who were disposing of waste in the general waste skips at each HWRC.
- Interviews were conducted using tablets, allowing responses to be entered directly into an electronic questionnaire.
- Fieldwork was undertaken across both weekdays and weekends to ensure a representative mix of users. A total of 2,486 interviews were completed, with a minimum of 110 interviews achieved at every site.
- Residents were asked about: Frequency of site use; reasons for visiting; disposal behaviours when household bins become full; materials brought to the site; recycling behaviour; interactions with site staff; satisfaction with multiple aspects of the service; demographic characteristics; and postcode information to assess site catchment areas.
Waste composition assessment:
- A 20% sub-sample of survey participants (204 residents) also took part in a detailed assessment of the contents of their bagged general waste.
- This provided evidence of actual waste composition alongside residents’ claimed disposal behaviour and enabled comparison between self-reported and observed waste streams.
Secondary research integration:
- Findings were considered alongside a separate WRAP service review commissioned on behalf of GMCA.
- This enabled survey findings to be interpreted within the wider operational context and helped validate themes emerging from both primary and secondary evidence.
Analysis
The project included extensive statistical analysis to ensure robust evidence for decision making.
Analysis included:
- frequency analysis across all survey questions
- cross-tabulations by demographic characteristics and individual HWRC sites
- postcode analysis to understand site catchment areas
- sub-group analysis where sample sizes permitted
- statistical significance testing using Z-tests at the 95% confidence level
- reporting of confidence intervals and margins of error for both overall and site-level results
- comparison of larger HWRC sites against smaller sites
- Key Driver Analysis to determine which aspects of site performance had the greatest influence on overall user satisfaction.
The Key Driver Analysis examined the relationship between individual service attributes and overall satisfaction, identifying the areas with the strongest potential to improve users’ overall experience.
Outputs
M·E·L Research produced a detailed analytical report presenting findings across all aspects of the study.
Outputs included:
- comprehensive survey analysis
- site-by-site benchmarking across all 20 HWRCs
- demographic and geographic analysis
- postcode catchment mapping
- detailed waste composition findings
- comparisons between different site types
- satisfaction benchmarking
- Key Driver Analysis identifying priorities for service improvement
- evidence-based conclusions and recommendations linked to wider operational reviews.
The findings provided GMCA with evidence to support future improvements to HWRC services and recycling performance. The research highlighted patterns of site usage, disposal behaviour and customer experience, while also identifying opportunities to improve recycling through greater staff engagement and clearer communication with residents.
The study also supported wider service planning by demonstrating how residents used the network, identifying differences between sites, and providing insight into the interaction between household waste collection arrangements and HWRC usage. Findings from the primary research complemented recommendations emerging from the wider WRAP service review, helping to reinforce priorities around improving staff engagement, encouraging better separation of recyclable materials, strengthening communications and considering operational changes across the HWRC network.
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