Familiarity breeds acceptance: Predictors of residents' support for curbside food waste collection in a city with green bin and a city without

Abstract

Food waste remains a high priority greenhouse gas (GHG) emission problem and household curbside collection - green bin¹ - with mass treatment is often adopted as a viable solution for GHG reduction. The aim of this study is to explore attitudinal and situational predictors of support for residential curbside green bin programs. Using responses to 517 household surveys from the mid-sized Canadian cities of London, Ontario (proposed green bin program) and Kitchener-Waterloo (KW), Ontario (operating green bin program for 10+ years) comparison of means t-tests, correlations and linear regression are used to test five hypotheses derived from the food waste and waste diversion literatures that predict green bin support: situational factors, current food wasting, theory of planned behaviour attitudes, concern that green bin encourages food wasting, and concern that food waste ends up in the garbage regardless of green bin. There is some support for all five hypotheses. Residents in Kitchener-Waterloo were significantly more supportive (83%) than those in London (65%). While residents in both communities are supportive because of the perceived convenience and environmental benefits of the green bin, the number of regression model predictors is greater in London (16 compared to 9 for Kitchener-Waterloo). The findings overall suggest sustained municipal education at the implementation stage may lead to positive resident habituation to green bin and thus, durable public buy-in.

Keywords: Comparative; Convenience; Curbside; Food waste; Green bin; TPB.