Sustainable Change Project

PSY 3024 Behaviour Modification

BSc (Hons) Psychology

Group Members:

Jayashan A/L Chinatamy (16108789)

Lai Zhong Xun (18026138)

Sharlini A/P Anantha Raj (16105823)

Tan Wei Jian (18124800)

Teh Jei Mi (18009795)

Lecturer: Dr. Woo Pei Jun & Prof. Alvin Ng Lai Oon

Due Date: 12 July 2021

 Introduction

Background

Malaysia had set several waste management targets for the year 2020 in its National

Strategic Plan for Solid Waste Management back in August 2005, which included diverting 40%

of waste from landfills and increasing recycling rates to 22%. However, based on recent

statistics, sanitary landfills reportedly received about 90% of waste with a recycling rate of only

10.5% (Iacovidou & Ng, 2020). Several policies and plans have been enacted by the nation in the

past to address this, such as the Action Plan for a Beautiful and Clean Malaysia in 1987 and the

Separation at Source Initiative (SSI) under the Solid Waste Public Cleansing Management Act

2007 (Act 672). The latter was initiated to ensure that Malaysian residents play their vital roles in

carrying out waste separation at their homes (Razali et al., 2020). It eventually became a law and

was only enforced in September 2015 when Malaysia had a rise in daily waste production from

about 30000 to 33000 tonnes per day. According to the Ministry of Urban Wellbeing, Housing

and Local Government, a maximum of 80gm of waste is supposed to be produced by an

individual daily. Contrastingly, Malaysians in urban areas were producing approximately

1250gm of waste daily (Ismail, I., 2014). It seems that the government’s efforts to combat this

issue have not proved fruitful and may require additional interventions to pay off due to late

implementation of waste separation laws and as highlighted later on, a lack of public awareness

on the issue.

With that being said, there are many negative effects of not separating waste

appropriately. Some of these include: soil and water contamination, extreme climate changes,

increase in disease-carrying pests, harm to land and marine fauna, and danger to human health
(Metropolitan Transfer Station, 2017). Among other things, a lack of waste management at home

has led to injuries to waste collectors through punctures by contaminated sharp objects in

garbage bags (Yosufi, 2019). Additionally, when a plastic bottle is not sent to recycling facilities

and is instead sent to landfills, it will eventually be absorbed into the soil, releasing chemicals

such as Diethylhydroxylamine (DEHA) which is hazardous to human health as well as to plant

and animal life. Rainfall at these sites could result in said harmful chemicals being passed into

water streams, causing water pollution and further endangering local flora and fauna

(Metropolitan Transfer Station, 2017).

Literature Review

Razali et al. (2019) found households to be the primary contributor of municipal solid

waste in Malaysia, which led this project to choose houses as the primary target for the

proliferation of waste separating behaviour in the programme. The study attributed the lack of

waste separation practice to an awareness deficit among the public. They lack the knowledge on

the negative effects of poor waste management on the environment and on human health.

Therefore, it is vital that the importance of waste separation be made known to the public,

especially through education, which would teach the correct methods of waste separation in

addition to instilling this behaviour as valuable from a young age. This can positively contribute

to the awareness of the change each individual can make across Malaysia (Nordin & Adman,

2019). The willingness and good habits of the residents of Malaysia was found to be extremely

important in successful waste separation and the reduction of greenhouse gas emission of 45%

by the year 2030. As such, the public desire to live in a more healthy environment in the future is

important in ensuring their habits of separating waste correctly (Razali et al., 2019).
 Furthermore, a study done among the sub-urban residents of Banting, Selangor found that

the majority of them lacked awareness regarding waste separation. The study used a

questionnaire to study the knowledge, attitude and practices of the residents regarding waste

separation. It was found that almost half of the participants were aware of the waste separation

issues but did not practice the necessary steps. However it was found that they were eager to

learn and understand more about the practices required for waste separation (Nordin & Adman,

2019). Another study was done to study the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) with Moral

Norm (MN) to understand habits in relation to waste separation in residents from high-rise

buildings in Kuala Lumpur. They collected 900 participants through convenience sampling to

answer a questionnaire amongst residents in the city centre of Malaysia as the implementation of

the SSI (Act 672) was done here. They studied the relationship of resident’s attitude, subjective

norm, perceived behavioral control and moral norm of the residents’ waste separation behavior.

It was found that all the factors have a significant impact on waste separation behavior with

moral norm being the most influential factor. The results show that residents feel guilty when

they do not attend to their moral obligation of separating waste. The second factor that has the

highest impact is perceived behavioural control. It was found that the perception of the level of

difficulty of recycling will gradually lead to the residents implementing waste separation

behaviour in their homes. The next factor, subjective norm, also was found to have a high

positive correlation with waste separation behavior. The residents’ often relate to their social

circles that involve people who are ‘pro-environmentalists’ who contribute to the shaping of their

intention to carry out waste separation behaviour. Lastly it was found that the least influential yet

important factor is the attitude of the resident towards the waste separation behaviour (Razali et

al., 2020).
 In terms of effective intervention, Sapkota et al. (2014) demonstrated some of the

methods that contributed to the success of their intervention plan. The study was conducted

amongst staff of a public Nepali hospital and aimed at improving waste management in a

healthcare setting. Despite the differing aim and setting, its methods can still be applied to the

current programme as it is fundamentally targeting the same behavioural deficit. A healthcare

waste management committee was formed from members of the hospital staff to manage the

entire intervention plan and ensure that its policies and standard operating procedures were in

line with national laws and regulations. Some methods that they employed include training on

safe waste management such as the appropriate ways of separating, collecting, and handling

waste as well as educating the staff on the environmental, health, and safety effects of waste

management. Brochures containing these information in detail were also given out to all hospital

parties. Additionally, different coloured bins were prepared in designated refuse areas with

picture guides posted above them as indicators for the disposal of the appropriate type of waste.

The study found that these interventions were attributed to a 60% increase in awareness and

waste separating behaviour among patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals at the

hospital.
Target SDG and Proposed Aim

As such, it is imperative that something be done to decrease the amount of waste being

sent to landfills in Malaysia in addition to instilling appropriate waste separation methods among

the public. A lack of awareness seems to be one of the primary contributors to the deficit in

waste separating behaviour, and interventions targeting this aspect may be successful in

increasing this behaviour. This sustainable change project will focus on domestic waste, starting

with one local neighbourhood in the community as a small step towards achieving our target

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), i.e., ‘SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and

Production.’ According to the United Nations (2011), the separation of waste falls under this

goal but as previously highlighted, waste separating behaviour may have positive effects on

aspects of other goals as well, such as SDGs: 3 - Good Health and Well-being; 13 - Climate

Action; 14 - Life below Water; 15 - Life on Land. This project, however, primarily focuses on

working towards the 12th goal through the implementation of an intervention plan in the waste

management programme.

According to the Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Corporation, there are

two major categories in waste separation. The first is recyclable waste which is also known as

‘dry waste,’ includes paper, plastic, glass, metals and other recyclable materials. The second

category is non-recyclable waste or ‘wet waste’ which includes food and damp materials such as

wet diapers. A waste separation programme among Malaysian households will be carried out as

there seems to be a lack of waste separating behaviour at home (Razali et al., (2017). It was

established that this shortage was a behavioural deficit that needed to be modified through an

intervention plan. The target behaviour in this plan involves separating dry and wet waste before

disposal. By the end of the intervention period, we aim to obtain an increase of more than 50% in
the number of households that separate their waste in the Seksyen 4 Shah Alam neighbourhood

after 3 months. Waste separation is a desirable behaviour that this programme would like to

increase in frequency. It can be operationally defined as segregating dry and wet waste into

different labelled/coloured bags before placing them apart for collection at the household’s

designated refuse area. Therefore, our hypothesis is that more than 50% of the households in

Seksyen 4 Shah Alam will separate their waste after 3 months of intervention. The behaviour we

are focusing on is part of the behaviour chain (throwing waste into labelled garbage bags) rather

than the whole process towards proper and accurate waste separation (i.e, get plastic bag, put

plastic bag near kitchen, analyze waste correctly to identify if its

plastic/aluminium/glass/compost, throw waste in correct plastic bag, tie up plastic bag and put

plastic bag at garbage collection area).

 Methods

Participants

The population of Seksyen 4 neighbourhood will participate in this sustainable change

project. The operational definition of our target population would be the residents who are living

in Seksyen 4 neighbourhood. This neighbourhood was chosen because according to the

Malaysian House Price Index (The Edge Malaysia, 2020), the average landed house price in

2019 is RM 426,155, and the average house price in Seksyen 4 is RM 420k. With this we will

assume the residents have lower purchasing power, meaning that monetary rewards would be

more of an incentive to participate in this project. The reason we chose only one neighbourhood

was because this sustainable change project serves as a test phase for collecting data before

implementing the next step of this behavior chain (i.e, accurately sorting waste) towards the goal

of proper and accurate waste separation nationwide. Three part-time staff will be hired to cover

tasks such as research, marketing, report, designing, campaign managing, product testing,

negotiation with Majlis Perbandaran Shah Alam for coordinating garbage collection schedule,

managing the campaign, training, developing the data recording system, research, market

surveys and product designing. Garbage collectors who will be collaborating with workers from

Majlis Perbandaran Shah Alam to collect baseline and treatment phase data will also be involved

in this project. GrabFood will also be sponsoring this sustainable change project by providing

cash vouchers which serves as a monetary reward for residents who have sorted their waste.
 Proposed Intervention Procedure

According to Khan et al. (2018), enforcing separation of solid waste behaviour is an

important step towards sustainable solid waste management in Malaysia. This sustainable change

project will focus on increasing desirable behaviour which is the separation of waste. The

sustainable change project will utilize an A-B research design whereby baseline data is collected

for 4 weeks and intervention is implemented for 12 weeks. There are several behavioral change

strategies that will be utilized in this project.

Antecedent Manipulations

According to the Ministry of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government (2013), a

nationwide survey of Malaysia found that recycling behaviour should come from an individual

personally, rather than being imposed with penalties when failing to adhere to health and safety

regulations. According to OECD (2017), unintuitive design of garbage bins affects the

frequency of correct waste sorting and recycling. The design consists of complex waste sorting

regulations thus causing sorting waste behaviour to be a conscious act rather than an automatic

one. Therefore in this sustainable change project 2 different types of garbage bags with

straightforward infographics on what needs to be placed in them will be provided to residents

free of charge, one for recyclables and one for non-recyclables (refer to appendix A). These

garbage bags will then be hung inside the house near their garbage bins and this acts as a cue

(SD) for promoting sorting behaviour. Having these garbage bags prepared for residents will

decrease response effort of knowing what are recyclables and non-recyclables as it is displayed

on the infographic of the garbage bags and residents do not need to prepare any garbage bags for

sorting waste thus increasing the likelihood of sorting behaviour. According to the fundamental
social marketing approach, behavioural change will be sustained if an individual is voluntary.

The desired behaviour will only be sustained if it is done based on one’s own preference (Ting et

al., 2016). Studies also show that people who are given information on how to sort waste are

more likely to do so (Guerrero et al., 2013). Thus, posters related to facts about separation of

waste will be posted in the Seksyen 4 neighbourhood Whatsapp as well, this also acts as a cue

(SD) for promoting sorting behaviour (refer to appendix B to F). Emotional and rational posters

will be posted on the Whatsapp group as well, with information such as “Plants and animals are

going extinct due to non-recycling behaviours” and this induce feelings of guilt in residents for

not sorting their waste which serves as an abolishing operation (AO) for competing behaviours.

Goal-Setting

Goal-setting involves writing down the criterion level of the target behavior and the time

frame for the occurrence of the behavior(Miltenberger, 2016). During the baseline period, a

Whatsapp group will be created and the residents of the Seksyen 4 neighbourhood will be asked

to join by workers from Majlis Perbandaran Shah Alam when they go to each household to

collect baseline data on waste separation. Residents will then be updated individually through

Whatsapp with weekly and monthly feedback on how many times they separated their waste and

a more positive message will be shown the more times waste was separated during that month.

According to Spaccarelli (1989), a combination of verbal reminders and written reminders

increases the recycle rate to 22.1%. In an attempt to test these findings on separating waste

behaviour, weekly and monthly feedback through Whatsapp acts as a cue (SD) to remind

residents to sort their waste every month. This method of goal-setting also lowers the response

effort of residents having to record their own behaviour, as data is recorded by workers from
Majils Perbandaran Shah Alam and the residents are updated automatically each month. The

weekly and monthly update message might also cause feelings of guilt, as residents are also

notified when they rarely sort their waste or do not sort at all and this serves as an abolishing

operation (AO).

Social support

A study done by Ofstad et al. (2017) found that social acceptance and normative

influences should be used in intervention designs to affect an individual’s waste separation

behaviour. Since residents are all added into a Whatsapp group, people encouraging others to sort

their waste serves as a positive reinforcer for that behaviour. People can share their sorting

efforts in the Whatsapp group as well as encourage other to do so and this creates natural

antecedents and consequences for sorting behavior. The involvement of others increases the

likelihood of success by helping to prevent the short-circuiting of contingencies (Miltenberger,

2016).
Token Economy

A token economy is a reinforcement system in which conditioned reinforcers called

tokens are delivered to people for desirable behaviors and the tokens are later exchanged for

backup reinforcers (Miltenberger, 2016). According to Permana et al. (2015), a monetary

incentive is more favourable compared to a non-monetary incentive for sustaining waste

separation and recycling among households, especially areas with lower income.

Thus, each time a resident sorts their waste correctly per day every week, they are given 2

E-tokens per day which is redeemed by scanning a QR code in the Grab application from the

Majlis Perbandaran worker who is in charge of collecting data. The E-token serves as an

immediate positive reinforcement which can later be exchanged for Grabfood cash vouchers

which serves as a backup reinforcer. 4 E-tokens are required to exchange for one Grabfood cash

voucher worth RM 20. If the resident manages to sort their waste correctly for 2 weeks (or 4

times) consecutively, they receive double the amount of E-tokens which is 8 E-tokens per week

or 4 E-tokens per day thus the amount of cash vouchers they can redeem is doubled as well.

They stop receiving doubled tokens once they fail to perform the target behavior. This serves as

an establishing operation (EO) for the resident to continue sorting waste behaviour.
 Proposed Data Collection

The target behavior, separating waste into different labelled garbage bags, will be

measured.

Who Will be Measuring and Frequency of Measurement

Trained staff members from town council will record the target behavior on a weekly

basis - adhering to the current garbage collection schedule which indicates that garbage from the

selected residential area will be collected twice per week. Given the three-day-long interval

between garbage collections, we assume that the waste produced by each household per interval

will consist of recyclables and non-recyclables, thus making waste-separation and the use of

different labelled garbage bags possible. Trained staff members appointed by the town council

will tag along the garbage collectors during the garbage collection days to record the target

behavior.

Method of Meaurement

The target behavior will be measured via interval recording, specifically time-sample

recording. The total observation period of 4 months (1 month baseline, 3 months intervention)

will be divided into 12 weeks. The start of each week is on Mondays after the garbage collection

on Sunday. The target behavior will only be recorded during the instance when the garbage truck

arrives to collect garbage from individual households. Please refer to Table 1 for a sample of the

garbage collection schedule.

Table 1

Garbage Collection Schedule and Week Calculation

Garbage Collection Day: Every Sundays and Thursdays

Time of Collection: Approximately 2pm to 4pm

Day S MT WT F S S M T WT F S S M T WT F

E
Day of Garbage / / / / / /
T
Collection
C
Day of Data / / / / / /

Collection

Week 0 1 2 3

Recording Instrument

A data sheet will be used to record the following information during the specific time interval:

1. which household performed or did not perform the target behavior, and

2. the total number of households who performed and did not perform the target behavior.

One data recording sheet will be used for each month (4 weeks or 8 collections). Hence,

there will be 1 data sheet for baseline and 3 data sheets for the intervention period. Please refer to

Table 2 for a sample data recording sheet.

Table 2

Monthly Data Recording Sheet Sample

Data Recording Sheet (Monthly)

Phase: Baseline / Intervention

Month: ____

Road Name House January

Number
W1 W2 W3 W4

Sun Thu Sun Thu Sun Thu Sun Thu

Jalan 2 Y N Y Y Y N Y Y

4 N N N Y N N N Y

6 NC N NC NC NC N NC NC

8 Y N Y NC Y N Y NC

10 Y Y Y N Y Y Y N

Jalan 12 Y Y Y N Y Y Y N

14 Y Y Y N Y Y Y N

16 N Y N N N Y N N

18 N Y N N N Y N N
 20 NC Y NC N NC Y NC N

Total Number of 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10

Households

Total ‘Y’ (Yes) 5 6 5 2 5 6 5 2

Total ‘N’ (No) 3 4 3 6 3 4 3 6

Total ‘NC’ 2 0 2 2 2 0 2 2

(No collection)

Note: “Y” = Occurence of target behavior; “N” = Non-occurrence of target behavior; “NC” = No

Collection, or no garbage bags were collected from the household.

*If the household only places one garbage bag at the collection area, it will be marked as “No”

Calculation for Weekly Progress Updates

Progress updates will be calculated after every garbage collection day (after every Sunday and

Thursday). Table 3 lists the dimensions that will be calculated and reported as part of the weekly

progress update. The example of calculation is based on the data collected in January Week 1

(Sun), as shown in Table 2.

Table 3

Calculation for Weekly Progress Updates

Reporting Dimensions Calculation

Frequency of households that exercised target Count the total number of “Y” in the data

behavior per week recording sheet for each week

Eg. 5

Frequency of households that did not exercise Count the total number of “N” in the data

target behavior per week recording sheet.

Eg. 3

Frequency of “No Collection” per week Count the total number of “NC” in the data

recording sheet.

Eg. 2

Percentage of Households who performed the (Total “Yes” / Total number of households) x

target behavior per week 100%

Eg. 5 / 10 x 100% = 50%

Calculation for Monthly Progress Updates

Table 4 lists the dimensions that will be calculated and reported as part of the monthly progress

update. The example below calculates the results for January. The data used is as shown in Table

2.
Table 4

Calculation for Monthly Progress Updates

Reporting Dimensions Calculation

Cumulative frequency of households that Count the total number of “Y” for all 8

exercised target behavior per month garbage collection days in the data recording

sheet for January.

Eg. 5 + 6 + 5 + 2 + 5 + 6 + 5 + 2 = 36

Cumulative frequency of households that did Count the total number of “N” for all 8

not exercise target behavior per month garbage collection days in the data recording

sheet for January.

Eg. 3 + 4 + 3 + 6 + 3 + 4 + 3 + 6 = 32

Cumulative frequency of “No Collection” per Count the total number of “NC” for all 8

month garbage collection days in the data recording

sheet for January.

Eg. 2 + 0 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 0 + 2 + 2 = 12

Percentage of Households who performed the (Total “Yes” in the 4 data recording sheets

target behavior per month for January / Cumulative total number of

households examined throughout 4 weeks) x

100%

Eg. 36 / 80 x 100% = 45%

Other Forms of “Waste Separation”

The target behavior may occur in other forms at other instances. Below lists a few possible

alternatives of the occurrence of waste separation:

1. Residents separate waste and bring them to recycle centers themselves,

2. Residents place their separated/non-separated waste at the garbage collection area before

the time of garbage collection,

3. Residents place their garbage bags at areas other than their garbage collection area

behind/in front of their houses.

These will not be recorded as an occurrence of the target behavior as it does not occur

during the specific interval for data collection. Besides, we hope to train residents to transfer

their waste to one specific source. It should be noted again that this procedure (i.e. using labelled

garbage bags for waste separation) is only one part of the behavior chain towards the ultimate

goal of proper and accurate waste separation. We are taking into consideration the complexity in

measuring proper and accurate waste separation at a later stage of this project. The complexity

may arise as different waste-processing centers might have different workflows in waste sorting,

thus increasing the complexity in obtaining a standard measurement criteria. Thus, we believe

that transferring waste to one source may simplify the process of evaluation at a later stage.
Why Measure Individual Household’s and Aggregate Target Behavior?

The benefits of collecting individual household data are:

1. It is easier to reward. By identifying the households that fulfilled the waste separation

goal, rewards can be given to them specifically.

2. Individual data may serve as feedback for individual households so that they are aware

of how well they are doing. If residents are doing well, praise and reward will be

delivered, if residents did not achieve the minimum goal, instructions and guidance will

be provided to promote waste separation behavior. Please refer to Appendix G for sample

feedback.

3. It allows us to identify which households are less likely to separate their waste, thus

allowing further intervention or functional analysis to be conducted on these households.

Further intervention or functional analysis may be conducted after the 3-month

intervention (beyond this assignment), with the aim of achieving a higher participation

rate in the future in mind. The current target behavior is only an initial part of the

behavior chain for proper and accurate waste separation. Thus, we believe that a high

participation rate is necessary as proper and accurate waste separation is contingent on

using labelled garbage bags. Applying foot-in-the-door technique, residents’ compliance

to this initial and easy target behavior might increase the likelihood of them complying

with the more complex proper and accurate waste separation at a later stage.

On the other hand, measuring aggregated target behavior would inform us how well the

entire neighbourhood is doing in terms of waste separation.

Success Criteria

Our success criteria is achieved if the number of households who participated in waste

separation after 3 intervention months increases to more than 50%. E.g, if 20 households

participated during baseline and 42 households participated in waste separation after 3 months

then it is a success. It is set at 50% because the target set by the National Solid Waste

Management Department in 2019 was 30% in one year (National Solid Waste Management

Policy, 2019), however as our project is more small scale and specialised the bar has been raised

slightly less than double (i.e, slightly lesser than 60%), giving the figure of 50%.

Ethical Considerations

With this waste separation program in place, it is logical to assume that the amount of

garbage bags produced per household will increase. This is because households are expected to

always have two separate garbage bags prepared per day to separate their wastes. The increased

plastic waste may bring about detrimental consequences to the environment. For instance,

mismanaged plastic waste could disrupt marine ecosystems (Critchell et al., 2019; Wang &

Wang, 2018). It may also affect the attractiveness of coastal areas, thus damaging the tourism

industry (Islam & Tanaka, 2004).

To reduce the potential impact of excessive plastic waste, we decided to distribute

biodegradable and compostable garbage bags. At the very least, the biodegradable feature of

these compostable plastic bags serve beneficial uses as they reduce disposal of plastic wastes in

landfills - which could cause serious health concerns as a result of toxic chemicals being released

(Song et al., 2009; Rujnic-Sokele & Pilipovic, 2017).

 Proposed Budget

The proposed budget is listed in Table 5.

Wages

Three part-time staff will be hired to cover tasks such as managing the campaign,

training, developing the data recording system, research, market surveys and product designing.

They will be paid a monthly salary of RM1500 for 8 months. Total budget allocated for wages is

RM36,000.

Product Testing

Newly-designed garbage bags will be used. Thus, product testing is necessary to detect

defects and ensure the high quality of the garbage bags before producing in bulk. The cost of

product testing varies depending on factors such as the type of product and the material used.

With reference to a guide by Gronkvist (2019) on product testing costs, we estimate a cost of

RM1000 for product testing that includes testing on fire retardance and material substance

durability.
Garbage Bags

Each household is expected to use 2 garbage bags (one for recyclables; one for

non-recyclables) per day for 3 months during intervention. Assuming that each month consists of

31 days, 186 pieces of garbage bags should be provided to each household. The price quoted for

customized compostable bags by a seller on Alibaba.com is RM0.1696 per piece of customized

garbage bag (Please refer to Appendix H). This amounts to a cost of RM31.5456 per household

on garbage bags. Multiplying with the approximated total number of households (n = 575) in

Seksyen 4, Shah Alam, the cost budgeted for garbage bags is RM18,138.72.

Logistics and Miscellaneous.

Transportation reimbursement will be given for work-related travels. This includes

delivery of garbage bags to households, travelling to meet with the town council, etc. Other

miscellaneous costs include telephone or printing. A budget of RM500 is allocated for logistics

and miscellaneous costs.

Table 5

Proposed Budget

Items Cost per Unit Total Number Total Cost (RM)

(RM)

Wages (Part-time staff) 1500 3 workers for 36,000

8 months

Product Testing 1000 1 1000

Labelled Garbage Bags 31.5456 575 households 18,138.72

per household

Transport Reimbursement _ _ 500

- Travelling

- Delivery of Garbage bags

Miscellaneous

- Telephone

- Printing

Total Cost (RM) 55,638.72

 Timeline

The project is divided into 4 phases. A brief description of each phase will be provided

below. Please refer to Appendix I for the project timeline.

Phase 1 - Preparation

The project will commence with holding talks with the town council to form a

collaborative partnership. After the partnership is secured, preparation work such as developing a

data recording system, recruitment and training, designing campaign marketing materials,

product designing and testing will commence. 13 weeks are allocated for the preparation phase.

Phase 2 - Baseline Data Collection

Once all the preparatory work is in place, the trained staff members will commence

baseline data collection for 4 weeks.

Phase 3 - Intervention

A “waste separation” campaign will be launched after baseline data collection.

Information pertaining to the campaign (i.e. rewards, campaign goals) will be communicated

during the launch. Concurrently, specially-designed garbage bags will be given out to all

residents for free within 2 days’ time. Intervention data will be collected for 12 weeks once the

plastic bags have been distributed.

Phase 4 - Evaluation

Weekly and monthly progress updates will be posted in the residential area’s online

communication group. By the end of the 3-month intervention, the results of the intervention will

be analyzed, and a report will be produced within 2 weeks’ time.

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 Appendix A

Garbage Bag Design

Figure A1 shows a sketch of the garbage bag designated for recyclables, while Figure A2 shows

a sketch of the garbage bag designated for non-recyclables.

Figure A1 Sketch of the Garbage Bag for Recyclables

Figure A2

Sketch of the Garbage Bag for Non-Recyclables

 Appendix B

Rational Poster

Figure B1 Rational Poster

 Appendix C

Emotional Poster

Figure C1 Emotional Poster

 Appendix D

Trash Management Tips

Figure D1 Trash Management Tips Poster

 Appendix E

Trash Separation Instructions

Figure E1 Trash Separation Instructions Poster

 Appendix F

Trash Disposal Tips

Figure F1 Trash Disposal Tips Poster

 Appendix G

Monthly Progress Feedback

Sample feedback for residents who have achieved the target

Great Job! You had separated your waste 3 out of 4 times (75%) in January! You have been a

great role model to our residential area. Keep up the good work in February!

Sample feedback for residents who have not achieved the target

Not too bad! You had separated your waste 1 out of 4 times (25%) in January! We would love to

hear from you what stops you from separating your waste. You may refer to the guidelines

attached below if you are unsure how to separate your waste.

 Appendix H

Quotation for Wholesale Garbage Bag

The price quoted in the budget section is obtained from the hyperlink below. Figure H1 shows a

screenshot of the webpage.

Hyperlink:https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/customized-packaging-and-logo-printing-com

postable_1600231252473.html?spm=a2700.details.0.0.3f694ab67engEN

Figure H1

Screenshot of the Wholesale Garbage Bag Webpage

 Appendix I

Project Timeline

You may find the project timeline in .xls (Excel) format by clicking on the link below.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VUpjbMwUVDq6jP_O_3ioxykCJF_Idux4/view?usp=sharing

Figure I1

Screenshot of the Project Timeline