EXAMINING ZERO WASTE consumption:

AN EMERGING ECONOMY PERSPECTIVE

Research Scholar: Muhammed Sajid N

Research Supervisor: Prof. (Dr.) Zakkariya K.A
Doctoral Committee Member: Prof. (Dr.) Manoj Edward
Recap

Pilot Study Data Collection

01 Status: Completed
02 Status: Completed

Conferences Publications
03 CET/Marian College/IIM 04 3 papers published
Trichy 3 in pipeline
July 2022 – December 2022

Data Analysis Thesis Writing

01 Status: In progress 02 Status: In progress

Conferences Publications
03 ILS 2022 04 2 papers published (A,C)
DCSMAT few in pipeline

Workshop
05
Introduction
A zero waste lifestyle or zero waste living or zero
waste consumption means that a consumer actively
trying to send nothing to a landfill.
 CNTD…
• The zero-waste movement is an eco-friendly lifestyle that aims to reduce the amount of
waste an individual creates on a daily basis.

• The primary purpose of this lifestyle is a commitment to sending as little waste to landfills
as possible.

• People in the movement prioritize recycling and reusing products and goods rather than
purchasing single-use items that clog up landfills and contribute to climate change and
global warming.

• Zero waste requires participants to mimic nature as a closed loop system: designing and
using products for continual reuse and allowing for the harmless return to nature at the
end of a product life cycle (Braungart, McDonough, and Bollinger, 2007).
Some common practices ZW consumers follow:

• Eliminate single-use items

• Recycle
• Repurpose household items
• Compost
• Use rechargeable batteries
• Connect with a zero-waste community

“Minimalists want to get rid of things; zero wasters want to find a use for
it”
Research gaps

• Although this alternative lifestyle is growing in popularity, the literature has failed to highlight the
determinants of zero waste consumption (Pietzsch, N., Ribeiro, J. L. D., & de Medeiros, J. F., 2017;
Hannon, J., & Zaman, A. U., 2018).

• A clear gap in the literature has been identified: i.e., there are no/limited studies on zero waste
consumers – why they become zero waste consumers and the motivators during their zero waste
journey (Iqbal, M. W., Kang, Y., & Jeon, H. W. , 2020).

• More specifically, no/limited studies exist that examine any of the sustainable lifestyles from
developing countries.

• Calls have been made to better understand how people relate to nature and how these relationships
translate to protecting it to inform more impactful program planning, delivery, and evaluation
(Warner, Diaz, and Kumar Chaudhary 2018, 2019; White et al. 2016).
Research Questions

RQ1: What are the factors that determine ZW behavior?

RQ2: How does connectedness with nature aid in shaping ZW behavior?

Research FRAMEWORK
 Research METHODOLOGY

• Population: ZW consumers residing at the major cities in the country.

• Sampling technique: Judgmental Sampling

• Method: Quantitative

• Sample size: 460 (Priori analysis; Kline, 2011)

PLAN FOR NEXT 6 MONTHS

Publications
Publish papers in
pipeline

Thesis Pre-sub
Complete thesis writing Conduct pre-submission
Publications
• Sajid, M., & Zakkariya, K. A. (2022). Reasons for resistance to e-waste recycling: evidence from an emerging economy.
Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, (ahead-of-print). (ABDC: A)

• Sajid, M., Zakkariya, K. A., & Peethambaran, M. (2022). Predicting virtual care continuance intention in the post-
COVID world: Empirical evidence from an emerging economy. International Journal of Healthcare Management, 1-9.
(ABDC: C)
ACHIEVEMENTS

• Best Paper Award (DCSMAT, 2022)

• PDMA, USA (Paper accepted; 3% acceptance rate)

Thank You…