; Residential Trash Sorting Behavior

The research is part of Capstone Research class FA 23 at Pratt Institute

What’s my research project?

The study tries to find a connection between trash sorting behavior, motivation, and daily habit-building on a residential scale, including private common spaces and working spaces.

The goal of the research is to find opportunities for design solutions, supporting target users in building their habits and producing waste-separating behavior.

Why this topic?

It all begins with an idea: When I lived in my home (Bangkok, Thailand), I saw the trash in my trash bin. It was heavy, bulky and a mix of many types of waste, such as food scrap, plastic, and paper packages, which used to be nice and could turn into recycled material. However, it had to be dumped into a “Landfill” at the end. From this starting point, I tried to investigate the problem.
As the cheapest and easiest solution, landfills can cause many environmental problems, not just a smell but also the methane gas produced (the EPA).
Less consumption is a key goal to tackle the trash and landfill problems. However, It is hard to figure out what to dispense less. Waste management is an initial way to sort the trash from its materials and where it should go. Therefore, this solution needs more support or practical communication to make consumers quickly follow as the system is overwhelming and needs incentives for the consumer. 
Apart from my self-observation, The Residential scale is small but impactful enough to pressure industry and government. However, the current trash sorting campaign puts much pressure on consumer's responsibility. The tone of voice needs to be supportive and create hope that consumers can also produce an impact on the environment by sorting trash.

Why residential scale ??

Does it feel like a hopeless
thing to do? 

“an ineffective solution to a problem that could be solvable in an inconvenient way - consume less. ”

— Anonymous from survey

Undeniably, the trash sorting strategy is one solution that the plastic makers push the responsibility on consumers after they produce waste and take little action to support (NewYorkTimes, 2022). 
Therefore, It is essential to create a supporting tool or communication to make the users understand their behavior and what to reduce in the future.

How do trash sorting behaviors look among different types of people?

The research broke down the people types based on their behaviors and trash’s journey, understanding the topic’s context in New York City. This trash journey shows that the trash from both active and non-active sorting trash user are mixed together, which make it difficult to manage and recycle.

How have the existing tools supporting people?

The research also reviews some case studies from other communities that successfully manage waste or are in progress developing their tools, such as Taiwan, Korea, Japan, and the current New York campaign. Not only the incentives and education part but the details on infrastructures and facility systems also represent the recycling success in the community.

So, the question of research is

What motivation will encourage people to separate the trash inside their house?

The Framework
of research

To frame idea of the research starts with motivation. Motivation should grab the target’s attention and drive the target to push the target users' efforts to sort the trash. 

The simple concept of sorting is dividing trash from materials or destinations. The goal of sorting the trash is to make each material go to the correct place to decompose or recycle easily. 

From the goal and framework, there are some following things that the target has to do inside their residence: make communication and infrastructure. 

What Findings
from the
research?

From the Ethnographic research, Articles and books review, interview, and survey, I grouped my findings in three main theme which is motivation insights, target journey, and incentive opportunities.

motivation insights

The cycle of incentive and habit forming.

Next steps
of the research
& design…

The research findings turn this into design principles for concept design in the following steps. For this reason, these are concept designs from the research findings. Please feel free to leave any comments or contributions.

 References

  • Xia, Ziqian, et al. “Understanding Waste Sorting Behavior and Key Influencing Factors through Internet of Things: Evidence from College Student Community.” Resources, Conservation and Recycling, vol. 174, 2021, p. 105775, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2021.105775.

    Zhou, Jieyu, et al. “Designing a Smart Incentive-based Recycling System for Household Recyclable Waste.” Waste Management, vol. 123, 2021, pp. 142-153, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2021.01.030.

    Stoeva, Katya, and Stina Alriksson. “Influence of Recycling Programmes on Waste Separation Behaviour.” Waste Management, vol. 68, Oct. 2017, pp. 732–41. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2017.06.005.

    Nguyen, Thi T. P., et al. “Factors Influencing Waste Separation Intention of Residential Households in a Developing Country: Evidence from Hanoi, Vietnam.” Habitat International, vol. 48, 2015, pp. 169-176, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2015.03.013.

    Liu, Qiao, et al. "The Mechanism of Household Waste Sorting Behaviour—A Study of Jiaxing, China." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 19, no. 4, 2022, https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19042447

    Concari, Alessandro, et al. "Investigating the Role of Goals and Motivation on Waste Separation Behavior Through the Lens of the Theory of Reasoned Goal Pursuit." Environmental Management, vol. 72, no. 5, 2023, pp. 1019-1031, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-023-01820-1.

    (Book) Ernst Worrell, and Markus A. Reuter. Handbook of Recycling : State-of-the-Art for Practitioners, Analysts, and Scientists. Elsevier, 2014. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=485087&authtype=sso&custid=s8440772&site=eds-live&scope=site.

  • The New York Times interactive article: Title: "Trashed: A Journey Through the Land of Lost Stuff" Authors: Hiroko Tabuchi, Brad Plumer, Derek Watkins, Nadja Popovich, and Anjali Singhvi Publication Date: April 21, 2022 URL: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/04/21/climate/plastics-recycling-trash-environment.html

    HDR Inc.'s portfolio on New York City Recycling Incentive Pilot Study: Title: New York City Recycling Incentive Pilot Study - HDR Portfolio URL: https://www.hdrinc.com/portfolio/new-york-city-recycling-incentive-pilot-study

    99% Invisible podcast episode titled "Separation Anxiety": Title: "Separation Anxiety" Publication Date: Not specified URL: https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/separation-anxiety/

    Curbed article about New York City's waste management:

    Title: "Where Does New York City’s Trash Go?" Author: Patrick Sisson Publication Date: August 2022 URL: https://www.curbed.com/2022/08/nyc-trash-landfill-incineration-recycling-compost-voyage-gross.html