Trust and waste management information expectation versus observation

There is recognition that trust is a significant basis for effective risk communication. However, there is still a need to understand not only the relative importance of different trust dimensions but also their basis and the components which are affecting the persuasiveness of messages in different decision contexts. This paper includes the results of a small survey of people in interest groups in the United Kingdom (UK) in terms of their views of different waste management information sources. It identifies that the extent to which expectations of the performance of different institutions are supported by observation appears to have a significant impact on trust. In this regard waste management regulators in the UK appear to have the potential to engender particularly low levels of trust.