The effects of adjacency of trash bin and recycling bins in motivating waste separation behaviour

Abstract

The increasing amount of solid waste generation is a common issue facing by the countries worldwide. To overcome this problem, many countries implement recycling as the alternative to reduce the amount of solid waste generated. In order to achieve the target set of to achieve 22% of recycling rate in the year 2020, Malaysia government has implemented mandatory waste separation among the Malaysian household. Previous studies have showed that in order to motivate people to practice waste separation, the recycling bin should be placed in shorter distance. The objective of this study is to examine the effects of adjacency of trash bin and recycling bins in motivating waste separation behavior. The scope of this study is shopping mall in Johor Bahru, Johor. Empirical data were collected through experiment settings. Observation sessions have been conducted for a period of fourteen days. The subjects involved in the experiment were selected using convenience sampling technique. Descriptive analysis and Chi-Square test analysis were employed to analyze the data gathered. A total of 715 subjects were involved in the experiment settings. The results of Chi-Square test analysis showed that there are significant differences in waste separation practice when the trash bin is adjacent to the recycling bin. This study has confirmed that the subjects were motivated to practice waste separation when the recycling bin and trash bin were placed adjacently. This study may serve as a guidance to the governance in motivating people to practice waste separation in order to achieve 22% of recycling rate in the year 2020.