Understanding the Human Dimensions of Recycling and Source Separation Practices at the Household Level: An Evidence in Perak, Malaysia

Pei Lin Yu, Norafida Ab Ghafar, Mastura Adam and Hong Ching Goh
Additional contact information
Pei Lin Yu: Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Faculty of Built Environment, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
Norafida Ab Ghafar: Department of Architecture, Faculty of Built Environment, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
Mastura Adam: Department of Architecture, Faculty of Built Environment, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
Hong Ching Goh: Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Faculty of Built Environment, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 13, 1-25

Abstract: Recycling and source separation (R&SS) are believed to have been the first attempt to minimise waste. This research adopted mixed methods that followed sequential quantitative then qualitative data collection, combining questionnaire surveys from 100 households, semi-structured interviews, and participatory observations to study the human dimension of waste generation and management. Scoring Assessment (with modified Bloom’s Cut Off point) indicated that households had moderate knowledge and positive attitudes yet poor behaviour, and these three components indicated no linear associations, tested using Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient. However, age group, marital status, educational level and living duration showed statistical significance with households’ participation in source separation through Chi-Square Test. Meanwhile, observation data showed that waste management mechanisms and environment had inefficiently supported households’ participation in R&SS practices (external factors: poor accessibility to services, lack of tangible incentives, and absence of restriction in consumption). Elicited data indicated that a satisfactory level of intentions, knowledge, and willingness, together with good habit and quality persuasion (internal factors), were required to drive good behaviour. Subsequently, a series of recommendations were formulated to promote gradual yet solid transformation of the waste management system, tapping on existing initiatives by considering additional parameters upon the gap in households’ knowledge, attitude, and behaviour.

Keywords: mixed methods; online questionnaire survey; participatory observation; sustainable waste disposal; sustainable consumption; Malaysian source separation practice (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/13/8023/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/13/8023/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:13:p:8023-:d:853214

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().