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This article aims to understand the determinants of recycling behavior by analyzing the environmental beliefs, personal values and policy perception. We use an original survey by questionnaire of 1,071 individuals in two French Regions, i.e., Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (PACA) (South-East of France) and Grand Est (GE) (North-East of France) that differ greatly in levels of recycling even though they are subject to the same national regulation. We show that policy makers should take account of socio-psychological factors when designing policy instrument. The effect of environmental beliefs and personal values, specifically in terms of awareness of consequences (AC) and the ascription of individual responsibility (AR), consistently yields positive outcomes on sorting behavior. This effect remains consistent across different regions and irrespective of the type of policy implemented. Moreover, the stronger the perceived effectiveness of the policies, the more recycling behavior will increase.