Relative Location of Bins and Its Effects on Recycling in Campus

Abstract

The amount of non-recyclable material in recycle-bins creates extra cost because of the extra labor required for sorting and transportation. This study aims to investigate if the problem is caused by the placement of the recyclebins. We analyzed whether basic placement changes in proximity would reduce the amount of wastes in recyclebins and also whether these changes will maximize the recyclable materials in the recycle bins, thus, helping the recycling process to be more profitable. There was a significant decrease of externally derived contamination when recycle-bins were placed further, relative to waste-bins. However, that reduced the recyclable materials also. The conclusion was placing a bin nearer to foot traffic increases its litter load. It is recommended that in places with higher amount of recyclable material, recycle-bins to be placed nearer, regardless of externally derived contamination, in order to obtain as much recyclable material as possible.