The integrated study of the effects of infographic design on waste separation behavior and the behavioral outcome implementation on waste composting.

This study revealed the effects of designed infographics for waste separation and the implementation of behavioral outcomes using surveys and lab-scale experiments. The designed infographics improved the waste separation behaviors of the respondents in term of subject norm, perceived behavioral control, and intention. These influential factors were increased by 5.84 to 20.5%. The effects of design elements including waste separation mascots, the knowledge of waste separation, and the knowledge of waste management were dependent on the ratio of graphics and messages. Therefore, the careful attention on design elements of the infographic had to be noted. According to survey results, animal bone and shell wastes were the highest miss-sorting waste for the compostable waste bin. Although the contamination rate of these wastes did not significantly affect the decomposition of organic waste in the composting process, the quality of the product was degraded in term of toxicity. The germination index was decreased by 66.0% under a 10% contaminated condition. In contrast, the increased the total Ca of compost was increased. Furthermore, the other chemical components of final composts were similar under various conditions. It could be concluded that the mixture of animal bone and shell in compostable waste is acceptable for the purpose of waste reduction. However, the contamination rate of inappropriate wastes in the compostable waste bin should be minimized to enable effective waste composting. The significant findings of this study will be able to apply to the design of waste separation at the source and the plan of waste management.

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

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.