- Title
- The determinants of waste separation behaviour in Uitenhage, South Africa
- Creator
- Basson, Anna-Marie
- Subject
- Recycling industry -- South Africa
- Subject
- Sustainable development -- South Africa Economic development -- South Africa -- Environmental aspects
- Date Issued
- 2018
- Date
- 2018
- Type
- Thesis
- Type
- Masters
- Type
- MBA
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10948/23658
- Identifier
- vital:30593
- Description
- The value of waste as a resource, diverting waste from landfills and the need for a circular economy, was emphasised at the South African and European Colloquium on recycling hosted by PETCO, the polyethylene terephthalate company (Godfrey, 2013, p. 17). In South Africa, the recycling industry is seen as a means to provide income and skills development, and to create sustainable livelihoods. Yet, the country remains deeply entrenched in landfilling (Godfrey, 2013, p. 19). According to Zhang, Huang, Yin and Gong (2015, p. 9475) “understanding the factors that affect residents’ waste separation behaviours helps in constructing effective environmental campaigns for the community”. The focus of a waste management system should be to motivate and convince the consumer to dispose of their waste in a sustainable manner. The waste separation decision is complex and can be explained by the theory of planned behaviour and theory of reasoned action (Nguyen, Nguyen, Lobo & Dao, 2017, p. 2). The aim of this study is to identify and evaluate the factors that influence the waste separation behaviour of households in the Uitenhage area. In order to achieve this aim, secondary research (literature review) and primary research (empirical study) were conducted. The study has shown that if the residents are presented with free containers and have access to a collection service which facilitates the flow of the recyclables from the point of consumption to the point of sustainable disposal and conversion, it could motivate them to separate the waste. The only variable that was found significant in relation to household waste separation behaviour was motivation. The respondents are motivated to separate their household waste; yet, they do not separate it. The frequency distribution analysis reported that the sample was not experienced waste separators, where less than half of the sample was engaged in some waste separation activities. Yet, the respondents had a positive attitude towards the importance of waste separation and disagreed that waste separation is inconvenient. The majority of the respondents agreed that they have control over their behaviour and that the decision to separate their waste is within their control, but yet they do not separate their waste. The respondents agreed that they have the knowledge of what and how to separate waste, however, disagreed that they know where to take their separated waste. Interestingly, the respondents agreed that waste separation is The determinants of waste separation behaviour in Uitenhage, South Africa part of their moral norms; yet, they do not consider family and friends, including the municipality, to exert social pressure on them to separate their household waste. It is recommended that the municipality investigates the requirements for implementing a waste management scheme which provides containers for free and collects separated waste from households. Entrepreneurs can also play a pivotal role in bridging the gap in the waste management supply chain by establishing buy-back centres and sustainable recycling depots to facilitate the collection of separated waste for recycling. These collection services, buy-back centres and recycling depots present business opportunities and job creation potential, which will drive the economic growth in the Nelson Mandela Bay area.
- Format
- xiii, 121 leaves
- Format
- Publisher
- Nelson Mandela University
- Publisher
- Faculty of Business and Economics Sciences
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Nelson Mandela University
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