Preferred attributes of waste separation behaviour: an empirical study

Abstract

This study attempts to identify the preferred attributes for waste separation behaviour among communities in Malaysian universities. Recycling is a plausible path to reduce the amount of waste generated in the country in a sustainable way. Regrettably, less than 10% of the waste in Malaysia is recycled. Separating the waste before recycling is important to avoid contamination of waste, which could diminish the value of recycling while increasing the recycling rate. Results of a preliminary survey conducted on a university campus indicate that the waste separation behaviour in the community on campus is not encouraging. A total of 564 convenience samples were invited from the community of the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia to provide their preferred attribute for waste separation behaviour on campus. A choice-based conjoint analysis identified a set of four attributes to foster waste separation behaviour, comprised of the following attributes: accessibility to the recycle bin, incentive, reminder, and information. Each attribute is associated with a list of sub-attributes. The accessibility to recycle bin attribute was identified by the community as the highest priority attribute for waste separation, with a share of 48%. The set of attributes proposed in this study will help the university management when making decisions and allocating scarce resources to foster waste separation behaviour among the community and fulfilling its social responsibility.