The effects of compost bin design on design preference, waste collection performance, and waste segregation behaviors for public participation

Abstract

Municipal solid waste (MSW) composting is one of the most effective strategies for MSW management but detrimental litter such as plastic and glass debris must be discarded elsewhere. Well-segregated wastes are necessary in this context. A compost bin is a waste collection tool for source separation. To date, the deployment of compost bins for source separation has received scant investigation. This study investigated the effects of compost bin design in terms of user design preferences, waste collection and sorting execution, and segregation behavior. The study comprised a survey and an on-site experiment. Design preferences of nine designed compost bins were evaluated by surveying 400 respondents using the pairwise comparison method. It was revealed that design preference was determined by bin shape and slot position. On-site experiments were conducted to establish collection rate, contamination rate, capture rate, and effective capture rate under different conditions. Under the experimental conditions, better segregation rates were observed in comparison with the control condition. The contamination rate was reduced by 55.9%. The capture rate and the effective capture rate were increased by 8.90%, and 53.4%, respectively. The significant effects of design preferences, physical designs, visual prompts, and past behavior were identified via statistical methods. Source-separated waste collection can be improved through preferred compost bin adoption, enhanced design, appropriate visual prompts, and experience in waste segregation. Therefore, the findings of this study will help to generate effective source-separated collection and allow compost bins to be placed in public areas for integrated and sustainable waste management.