Public Perception of Circular Economy in Bangladesh

Abstract

Public perception is among the driving forces in the implementation of circular economy within Bangladesh, but there is yet to be any research on this topic. The study was conducted in different areas of Dhaka city in 2020 and 2023. This exploratory survey-based study took 247 respondents in the (both phases) to investigate the public perception of circular economy in terms of public awareness and knowledge of the implementation. This study is conducted in two phase, first phase was conducted in (February-March), 2020 and second phase in (October-December) 2023. The second survey took three years’ interval for the to know the change of awareness level after corona pandemic. Both study utilized same set of multiple- choice questionnaire with same number of people and gender at the same areas of the city. The respondents were not the same person participated at the first survey. The questions were divided at the three segments: background information, environmental awareness in terms of circular economy implementation, and willingness to share information about the importance of circular economy. Quantitative and content analysis is then applied to evaluate the robustness of survey results. Results indicate that 98% of the respondents had no idea of the concept of circular economy in 2020 but number increased from 2% to 20% in between three years. However, 35% participant believe in caring for green environment, 83.7% (2020) wanted to reuse second-hand product at their home and in 2023 number increases up to 89%. Moreover, 80% respondents from both study years want to share information about the importance of circular economy with their family members, neighbors’ and alike, which could potentially support the implementation of circular economy in Bangladesh. Together, this study provides an initial step towards a better understanding about why public perception is required to support the process of circular economy implementation in Bangladesh.