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Domestic waste management: a survey for the design of an innovative

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Conference Paper · September 2020

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 XXV Summer School “Francesco Turco” – Industrial Systems Engineering

Domestic waste management: a survey for the design of an

innovative compactor

Laurieri N.*, Facchini F.*, Lucchese A.*, Marino A.*,

Piccininno G.**

* Polytechnic University of Bari - Department of Mechanics, Mathematics and Management, Via E. Orabona, 4 -
Bari ([email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected])
** Item Oxygen, Piazza Stazione, Altamura, Bari ([email protected])

Abstract:

Integrated waste management requires considerable resources in terms of both materials and energy, thereby
constituting a significant item of expenditure for local administrations. Thus, the correct management and disposal of
home waste imperatively pursue innovative strategic objectives to reduce the environmental impact. European policies
aim at reducing the overall impact of domestic waste on environment and public health by promoting an efficient use
of the resources and reducing the quantities of the unsorted waste produced. Encouraging the reuse of recyclable
fractions as resources, increasing the levels of separated waste fractions, and implementing a safer waste disposal system
are crucial goals nowadays. Moreover, the active involvement of citizens through information, accountability and
rewarding approaches has generally shown to increase the amounts and the quality of recyclable fractions. The aim of
this study is to develop an innovative system to help users optimize domestic waste management. A survey has been
designed and submitted to citizens of a Town in the South Italy in order to investigate their habits and behaviours in
managing home waste as well as the difficulties and wished supports to appropriately separate waste fractions. Non-
parametric analyses have been carried out on the 385 answers received, and the outcomes of the survey analysis are
presented in this paper. They have been adopted in the design of an innovative home waste compactor device. The
compaction of paper, plastic, and metal fractions and sealing of organic waste are suited by the interviewed to improve
the management of separated waste fractions. The steady municipal implementation of such a system will allow the
reduction of both the logistic and economic expenditures required for waste collection and the disposable quantities
of unsorted waste.

Keywords: Integrated waste management; domestic waste compactor; non-parametric analysis

1. Introduction "polluter-pays" principle, to appropriately manage wastes

in order to avoid negative impacts on both environment
Nowadays urban and household wastes management is and human health. The concept “polluter-pays” establishes
characterized by several criticalities involving environment, that waste disposal costs should be addressed to the holder
energy, and health. The amount of global wastes is expected or producer of the waste. The targets fixed by the EU
to triple by 2100 (World Bank, 2013) due to urbanization, regard the reduction of food waste (30% by 2025 and 50%
industrialization, and enhance of world population. Around by 2030) and the quantity of material to be recycled and
70-80 % of the costs associated to waste management are prepared for reuse (55% in 2025, 60% in 2030, 65% in
due to collection and transport (UN-HABITAT, 2010). 2035). In scientific literature, studies are available on the
The vehicles adopted in waste collection system contribute internalization of external costs of transport (Digiesi et al.,
to greenhouse gas emissions, summing up with ones 2016a, 2016b) and on strategies for the improvements of
generated by both incineration and landfilling (Hoornweg and energy efficiency in urban areas (Carli et al., 2015).
Bhada-Tata, 2012). Globally, 1.3 billion tonnes of food per
The Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/CE) also
year are wasted (Gustavsson, J. Cederberg, C. & Sonesson, 2011),
introduces the theoretical model of Circular Economy,
thereby dangerously affecting global environment, due to
which is based on five pillars: prevention of waste
food production, storage and transportation processes
production, reuse, recycling, energy recovery and disposal
(Mourad, 2016). Because of these multiple issues related to
of waste. According to Nainggolan et al. (Nainggolan et al.,
waste management and the growing concerns derived from
2019), in order to create a circular structure, citizens’
climate change, the problems of food wastes have been
motivations, efforts and problems regarding sustainability
strongly tackled by the European Union (European
and separate waste collection should be of major interest.
Commission, 2011).
An efficient management and decrease of the wastes
EU legislation strictly regulates waste production and produced can generate multiple advantages: greenhouse gas
management and introduces new key targets to be emission prevention, pollutant reduction, energy saving,
achieved. The directive 2008/98/CE defines the resource conservation, job creation, and development of
fundamental principles and obligations, including the
 XXV Summer School “Francesco Turco” – Industrial Systems Engineering

green technologies (Cucchiella, D’Adamo and Gastaldi, 2014) support of focused educational programmes (Romano,
(Ranieri et al., 2018) Rapposelli and Marrucci, 2019; Knickmeyer, 2020), but also with
the introduction of a high-technological domestic waste
Despite these undeniable advantages, the level of citizens’
compactor to support the users in home waste
participation and motivation to recycle are not always
management.
elevated. Gilli et al. (Gilli, Nicolli and Farinelli, 2018) show
that the probability of recycling increases when people are A great goal of development and a possible method to
motivated by the possibility of receiving an external reward increase waste recycling can be the use of an intelligent
for their action. Following this line, other authors (Schanes, home waste compactor. This solution can bring citizens an
Dobernig and Gözet, 2018) underline that households feel important economic reward by increasing both the quality
mainly guilty about wasting food when it is related to and quantity of separate home waste fractions. The amount
economic loss rather than environmental and social of mixed household waste would decrease and might allow
consequences. Results of Mwanza et al. (Mwanza, Mbohwa a final reduction of the municipal waste taxes according to
and Telukdarie, 2018) indicate that households are the “Polluter Pays” principle. Reduction of taxes will
influenced in the recovery of waste by multiple levers, such originate in the increase of incoming obtained from the
as demographic factors, awareness and knowledge on second raw material sale and in the reduction of collection
recycling, waste collection systems (Fig. 1). and transport costs by municipalities. The adoption of
logistics models developed for industrial fields could
further improve environmental gains (Digiesi, Mossa and
Mummolo, 2013; Digiesi, Mossa and Rubino, 2015a). In this
perspective, such a device can be a valuable tool to both
reach the targets established by the EU and get citizens
further involved in a greener waste management.
The purpose of the current study is to empirically
investigate on the main difficulties that citizens from a city
in the south of Italy have in relation to the management of
the separate waste fractions produced at home. This will
also give some insights into the suitable support they would
require, in order to appropriately separate waste fractions.
In the end, the outcomes of the survey analysis will also
help design an innovative domestic waste compactor
Figure 1: Key factors affecting home waste management device, as part of a research project funded by European
Modified from Mwanza et al., 2018. Regional Development Fund and European Social Fund of
Apulia Region (POR Puglia FESR FSE 2014-2020 - Sub-
Citizens should be more aware of the consequences of a Azione 1.4.B "Bando INNOLABS").
badly waste management in order to increase their
willingness to participate (Digiesi et al., 2015b). Certainly, 2. Current technologies applied to waste compactors
people can be educated to be more sensitive to the
environmental issues related to waste management, but, as Different types of home waste compactors are available on
some authors have stated, (Gilli, Nicolli and Farinelli, 2018; the market and differ each other for technical
Schanes, Dobernig and Gözet, 2018) the perspective of an characteristics, technology, dimensions and functions. As
economic reward for a better waste recycling could have an regards the mechanisms and technologies used in the
important impact. domestic waste compactors currently available on the
market, compacting and shredding / crushing systems are
In 2017, the amount of municipal waste collected in Italy prevalently used (Appendix A).
was 488.7 kg per inhabitant (ISTAT, 2019) with 55.5%
resulting from separate waste collection. The levels of Devices such as CleanCUBE, KRÜSHR 12 and Broan Trash
separate waste collection are different across the Italian Compactor compact mixed wastes inside an internal basket
peninsula: a very high percentage is registered in Trento by crushing it through a press moving vertically through an
(74.6%), Veneto (73.6%) and Lombardy (69.6%), whereas X-frame mechanism. Alternatively, the devices Whirpool
lower values characterize the southern regions of Italy. Trash Compactor, Maytag and Kitchenaid use a screw-nut
ISTAT statistics reveal that in 2018 87.1% of households mechanism to compact mixed refuses a basket; in addition,
separate plastic refuses, 71.3% aluminium, 86.6% paper and a ball screw mechanism, which transforms a rotary motion
85.9% glass. These percentages are promising, although the into a translational motion, can improve, if adopted, the
quality of the collection performed is a crucial issue accuracy and efficiency of the "screw-nut" mechanism up
because, as stated by Thøgersen, the willingness to to 90% approximatively. Also, using a ball screws
recycling is moved by a positive attitude on the topic, but mechanism allows higher efficiency and durability, higher
this is not enough to reach a high quality of source wear resistance, further axial rigidity, and additional friction
separation. An appropriate design of the system can reduction between adjacent components.
increase the motivation and participation of citizens
The newest compaction solutions are designed to fit within
(Thøgersen, 1994). Thus, citizens can be further motivated home living spaces for their small size. Such devices
to produce purer separate home wastes not only with the facilitate waste disposal operations and optimize waste
 XXV Summer School “Francesco Turco” – Industrial Systems Engineering

delivery time. These domestic compactors provide variable versus the sum of all the others; a Bonferroni-
automatic integrated controls and security systems through adjusted P value was then applied to assess the significance
the use of specific software programmes with a functional of the test. In order to compare different unmatched
and user-friendly design. These devices can check groups of numerical variables (q.21), given that they have
compaction processes, volume reductions, battery capacity not got a normal distribution according to the Shapiro-Wilk
and possible failures in real time through a wireless normality test (p<.0001), non-parametric tests have thus
connection. The information collected by the compactor been used: the Mann-Whitney test to compare two
can be then consulted on smartphones or other devices unpaired groups, and the Kruskal-Wallis test three or more
through appropriate informatic applications. groups. The results obtained are summarised in Appendix
C.
3. Research design
5. Survey results and discussion
During a time-frame of four months (June-September
2019), an online questionnaire was published on the project The examination of the answers received about personal
website www.e-codom.com. It consisted of 3 different data reveals that people younger than 40 years (67.4%) have
sections dealing with personal data, personal problems in mainly responded to the online survey (q.2), the majority of
sorting waste fractions, and the support suited for an the overall respondents are workers (56.5%) followed by
accurate separation of the refuses. students (29.0%) (q.3), and the general educational level is
mostly around A-level (41.7%), then University degree
The questions were designed on the basis of three elements:
(28.5%) and then lower-school level (19.7%) (q.4). In order
the current weekly planning of the door-to-door waste
to further characterise the population of the respondents
fractions collection in Altamura (Table 1), the state-of-the-
and possibly identify subgroups usable for further analyses,
art analysis on available home waste compactors, and a
questions 6 to 11 were submitted. Most of the interviewed
preliminary description of the needs and critical issues that
people belong to households of 4 to 6 members (63.0%)
both citizens and public administration had regarding the
(q.6), and nearly 50% of the respondents have declared to
management of their waste fractions (data not shown).
personally manage the separation of waste fractions home
Table 1: Weekly planning of waste collection in Altamura (q.5).
Waste Town centre Town districts Out-of-town The family units involved in the survey mainly have their
fractions areas hearths in town districts (76.4%), while 14.8% live in the
Organic Mon.-Wed.-Fri. Mon.-Wed.-Fri. Mon.-Wed.-Fri. out-of-town area and the rest (8.8%) live in the town centre
(q.7). In more details, 28.2% of the respondents live in
Mixed Tues.-Sat. Tues.-Sat. Tues.-Thurs.- Sat. blocks with at least 8 flats and 35.2% in blocks with less
Plastic/ Thurs. Thurs. Thurs. than 8 flats, while 24.4% live in single-family houses
metal without garden and the remaining 12.2% in small houses
with a garden each (q.8). Consistent with the real estate
Glass Mon. Mon. Mon.
situation in Altamura, no blocks with more than 8 flats
Paper/ Fri. Fri. Fri. (p<.01) and less outdoor balcony (terrace/veranda, p<.01)
cardboard are reported in the town centre compared to other town
areas. In general, most of the lodgings where the
interviewed live are large 90 to 120 m2 (42.9%), whereas the
Of all the 47 questions of the survey, only 29 were dwellings smaller than 90 m2 or larger than 120 m2 count
investigated for the purpose of the current study 29.1% and 28.1% respectively (q.9).
(Appendix B). 385 usable questionnaires were sent back Finally, as nowadays expected, 90.1% of the respondents to
by anonymous Altamura citizens, as expected to be the the survey have a Wi-Fi connection home (q.11);
most knowledgeable people in providing the desired nevertheless, the possession of such a wireless connection
information on aspects such as critical issues and desired is still related to the age of the interviewed (p<.01) with
support in home waste management. people older than 40 years having less router devices home
4. Statistical analysis than younger people. The utility of a Wi-Fi connection
home might be of valuable interest to design a home waste
Following the scrutiny of the answers received, answer compactor able to acquire the data obtained from home
frequencies have been represented for each question on waste collection for a potential cloud network to supervise
appropriate tables or histograms (Results are shown in and improve the overall municipal system.
Appendix B). Then, contingency tables have been The second section of the survey was designed to
prepared, and chi-square and Fisher’s test of independence investigate around the possible problems that the citizens
have been used to investigate the possible dependency from Altamura have in their daily task to separate and
between two nominal variables (all questions except q.21), collect waste fractions. Most of the respondents think that
each resulting from a single question with two or more the small bins provided to separately collect each waste
possible values. In the case that the chi-square test for fractions home (30 dm3) are just a little cumbersome and
contingency tables larger than 2x2 is significant, post-hoc uncomfortable in relation to their size (q.12), although the
tests have been carried out either by using pairwise encumbrance is considered more impellent in town districts
comparisons or by testing each value of one nominal than elsewhere (p<.001). In addition, these small bins are
 XXV Summer School “Francesco Turco” – Industrial Systems Engineering

considered too capacious for glass waste (35.7%) (q.13), but and plastic/metal (p<.05) bins seems to support the
have insufficient capacity for plastic/metal (32.2%) and priority of these two waste fractions to be compacted
paper wastes (22.9%) respectively (q.14). That’s the reason home. Whether the respondents would have different
why most of the citizens usually try to reduce the volume degrees of priority in relation to their current habits to
of these two waste fractions (plastic/metal 39.1%, paper compact single waste fractions manually, was investigated;
35.3%, p<.01) (q.15). in particular, those already compacting paper and
plastic/metal wastes require further reduction of these two
If the interviewed people do not know in which specific
fractions compared to both wet and glass wastes (p<.0001).
waste bin a single refuse should be thrown, most of them
The overall need of a domestic waste compactor home is
accurately look for information on apposite smartphone
strongly related also to the exigency of further compressing
applications or brochures (44.7%) or on specialized
paper (p<.01) and plastic/metal (p<.001) refuses.
(17.7%) or non-specialized (5.2%) websites to get a final
decision, whereas the remaining 32.5% usually throw the
refuse into the unsorted garbage bin (q.16). glass

waste fractions
The third section of the survey questions the citizens about o

organic
the potential support they would require in order to ✱✱✱✱

✱✱✱✱ ✱✱✱✱
appropriately sort the different waste fractions home. In plastic/metal ✱✱✱✱
particular, the large majority of the interviewed declare to o

find very (40.5%) or quite (44.9%) useful to be supported paper

in properly preparing waste fractions by meticulously
separating or cleaning the different materials (q.17).

3
priority
As regards the waste fractions for which such a support is
the most demanded (p<.0001), plastic/metal fraction is the Figure 2: Degree of priority to compact separate waste
most impellent (59.5%), followed by organic waste (24.7%) fractions home.
(q.18). The interviewed would prefer to use a technological Legend: 1 = the most impellent fraction, 4 = the least impellent
device to get useful information for a profitable quality of fraction; o stands for p>.05, **** for p<.0001. Means ±
standard error means are represented.
waste fractions, such as a smartphone application (50.7%)
or a bar code reader (31.9%), rather than a comprehensive Additionally, glass wastes seem to be the less frequently
paper guide with a list of all possible types of refuse (17.4%) collected fractions in a month time in Altamura (data not
(q.19); people younger than 40 years would prefer using shown), and safety and technological concerns about a
more technological devices for this purpose (p<.05). Thus, potential domestic compactor of glass refuses have come
conceiving a home waste compactor provided with out in relation to noises, splinters, forces and stocking.
technological device to support users in home waste Therefore, on the basis also of the survey results, the
separation would be a priority. compaction of glass wastes would not strictly crucial to be
Also, a home waste compactor seems to be a highly (43.9%) envisaged in the compactor design.
or almost (34.3%) suitable device to be included amongst In relation to the usefulness of the decomposable bags used
the pieces of home furniture (q.20). Those citizens actually to collect wet wastes, the majority of the interviewed
improvising the compaction of plastic/metal and paper consider them little (43.6%) or even at all (16.4%) practical
waste refuses home would demand further help by using a (q.22). Among the 385 interviewed people, only 302 use
mechanical device (p<.01); however, people older than 40 specific small bins for wet wastes, and the majority of them
years perceive such a device less useful (p<.05). In addition, usually fill their organic waste bins completely (61.0%),
the high utility of a technological device to support the user before delivering them outside the house for door-to-door
in managing the preparation of home waste fractions is collection. Quite obviously, the more these bags are filled,
strongly related to the usefulness of a domestic waste the less resistant they appear to be (p<.05).
compactor (p<.01). Therefore, the combination of a waste
compactor with a technological support to help users The potential utility of an organic fraction sealer to reduce
appropriately prepare separate waste fractions in a single the possibility of unpleasant smells home was also
device would be a major goal for designing an innovative explored; the large part of the respondents think that such
home waste compactor. a device is very (57.7%) or (28.1%) quite suitable (q.23), in
particular for those filling the compostable bags at their
Non-parametric tests have been used to compare the maximum capacity (p<.0001) and those wishing to also
degree of priority to compact 4 distinct home waste dispose a waste compactor home (p<.0001). Therefore, the
fractions (paper/cardboard, plastic/metal, organic, glass) combination of a wet waste sealer with a waste compactor
home. As a result, both paper and plastic/metal fractions in a single device would be ideal.
are the most compelling to compact home compared to
glass and organic fractions (p<.0001) (q.21, Fig. 2). The At the end of the survey, three questions were submitted to
number of family members does not affect this result, while understand how much and in which way Altamura citizens
the location of the dwellings appears to slightly vary the feel comfortable about home waste collection. In
significance of the comparisons at various extents in particular, a good number of the interviewed people, based
relation to the town area, but not the overall results. In on their knowledge, thinks that it is very (56.4%) or rather
addition, the insufficient capacity of both paper (p<.0001) (34.5%) useful to personally separate high-quality waste
 XXV Summer School “Francesco Turco” – Industrial Systems Engineering

fractions (q.24). Indeed, a very large part of the respondents order to improve the quality of the fractions collected. The
finds that a rewarding system proportionate to the quality adoption of a visual detection system will allow a more
of the waste fractions delivered is very (56.1%) or quite correct identification of dry refuses, and also a specific
(32.2%) favourable (q.25), in particular for those aged more separation of PET from other plastics.
than 40 years (p<.001).
The dimensions of the compactor are defined for easy
Finally, more than three quarters of the population integration in modern modular kitchens, since a home
interviewed think that it would be very (36.6%) or enough waste compactor would be suitable by potential users
(41.0%) useful to increase the number of fractions to be within home furniture (q. 20). For safety reasons, all
separated home (q.26) in order to improve the quality of mechanisms to reduce volume of dry fractions will be
the waste collected upon receiving a consequent reward. powered through a hydraulic transmission, so that electric
Those interested in using a home waste compactor seem to powered devices will be separated from the main
be further captivated by the idea of adding other fractions component of the compactor. A conceptual drawing of the
to separate home (p<.001), whereas those living in town compactor is shown in Figure 4. On the basis of the survey
districts appear to be less interested (p<.05). respondents’ claim that the dimensions of the small bins
provided for home waste separation are not generally
For instance, since polyethylene (PET) is daily used to
suitable to collect appropriately each waste fraction (q. 12),
contain beverages and foods and is one of the first plastic
as not enough capacious for plastic/metal and paper wastes
materials to be separated in industrial processes, sorting
(q. 14.), the compactor is designed as having a plant
PET at home might be of sustainable utility. As regards the
dimension of around 600 x 600 mm2 and a height of around
symbol used to identify recyclable plastic objects in PET
1100 mm, which are standard dimensions of a kitchen-oven
(Fig. 3), 72.5% of the interviewed know it (q.27), especially
column.
people younger than 40 years (p<.0001), but the largest part
of the respondents (58.0%) admit not to pay enough Except for the steel-covered front part, all vertical sides of
attention to that symbol on plastic items before throwing the compactor will be coated with a bioplastic (flax fibre
them as waste products into the appropriate bin q.28). mixed with a biocompatible resin) which has already been
patented by a company from the project team. In the top
surface of the device will be the inlet of three dry fractions
(plastic, metal, paper). In the middle inner part of the
device, the volume reduction of these three fractions will
Figure 3: Commercial PET symbol. be obtained by means of crush rollers (i). In the lower part
of the device, fractions will be stored into two steel
6. Prototype design of a novel waste compactor waterproof removable drawers. This will allow the
temporary collection of residual liquids inside the drawers
On the basis of the results obtained from the online survey, without requiring the connection of the whole device to a
key technological features will be implemented on the drain network.
design of a smart home waste compactor. Firstly, most of
the citizens interviewed already try to reduce the volume of
plastic/metal and paper refuses (q. 15) and consider these
two waste fractions as the most compelling ones to be
compacted at home compared to glass and organic
fractions (q. 21). Accordingly, the device prototype will be
designed in order to support users to more correctly
manage following home waste fractions: PET, other
plastic/metal, paper/cardboard and organic. Glass fraction
won’t be treated in this compactor according to both the
results of the survey and the safety issues related to the
production of cracked glasses in a domestic environment
(q. 21).
As a result of the survey carried out, a home waste
compactor seems to be a suitable device to be included in
home furniture (q. 20) in order to help people compact dry
fractions (q. 15), reduce the possibility of unpleasant Fig. 4 – Conceptual draw of the smart waste compactor
odours by sealing wet fractions (q. 23) and support people As shown in Figure 4, the left drawer will be used for the
through a technological device included within the home storage of both PET and other plastic/metal refuses,
waste compactor and providing useful information for a according to the collection rules established by the
correct sorting of wastes (q. 17 and 19). The user support municipalities. In both cases, the drawer will be internally
will be implemented for: (i) reducing volume of dry organized to separately store the two fractions. A part of
fractions, (ii) sealing wet fractions, and (iii) helping users in the top surface of the device will rotate in order to let the
reducing errors and be further involved in the identification user access to the area for wet fraction sealing and dry waste
of waste fractions through an embedded device including a identifications. Indeed, most of the respondents appear to
touchscreen and a camera connected to a web platform in be interested in having a wet waste sealer within a home
 XXV Summer School “Francesco Turco” – Industrial Systems Engineering

waste compactor to reduce unpleasant smells (q. 23); thus, proposed the design of a domestic waste compactor
for the sealing of wet waste, a continuous double-layered prototype which would be useful to reduce the volumes of
compostable film and an anchor point to introduce wet some waste fractions, especially paper and plastic/metal
waste before film sealing will be available (the sealing device refuses as being the most critical to manage, correctly
is not represented in Fig. 4). The final sealed bag containing identify waste fractions through an embedded device, and
the wet fraction will be discharged through a chute under also reduce unpleasant odours by sealing the organic
the anchor point (ii). The wet fraction won’t be stored in fractions.
the device in order to avoid contamination of dry fractions.
The use of domestic and commercial waste compactors
The majority of the interviewed would like to be supported finds wide application on the market. The reduction of
in properly preparing sorted waste fractions (q. 17) and to waste volumes allows the optimisation of bin capacity and
get useful information for separating waste fractions with a a consequently higher efficiency of the waste collection and
profitable purity through the setting of a technological transportation systems. The use of these devices gives
device within the home waste compactor (q. 19). Therefore, advantages throughout the whole chain of waste
a two-level user support system will also be developed to management.
help users appropriately prepare and separate waste
Waste compaction would allow the reduction of collection
fractions in a single device. For the first-level support, a
times by the municipal waste service, with subsequent
decisional support system (DSS) will be implemented to
possible benefits on the overall waste management
help the user correctly manage dry fractions autonomously.
economy. A lower use of vehicles brings to lower emissions
In case the user is not able to identify the dry refuse, the
of pollutants and a possible reduction of waste taxes upon
user will be guided in positioning the refuse on the shelf in
minor fines to the Municipalities for impure separate
front of the camera; the refuse type will be identified
fractions. The use of such an innovative compactor might
through image acquisition and processing through
help citizens change their daily habits and behaviours in
appropriate visual detection algorithms. Once the dry
relation to home waste management and become more
refuse is identified, a light will lead the user to select the
sensitive to global environmental issues. Thus, multiples
appropriate inlet (iii).
advantages can be obtained from a sustainable waste
A good number of the interviewed people find useful management, from an economic reward and a correct
separating high-purity recyclable waste fractions (q. 24) and behaviour of citizens to a reduction of waste expenditure
would wish the favourable implementation of a rewarding and lower environmental impact.
system proportionate to the purity of the waste fractions
The e-CODOM project has been developed in this context
delivered (q. 25). In order to improve the involvement of
and the prototype of a domestic eco-compactor will allow
the user in correctly managing domestic waste fractions, the
the reduction of waste volumes home and a higher quality
data collected upon interaction of the user with first and
of separate waste fractions upon specific high-tech support.
second-level support systems and the amounts (in kg) of
the dry fractions separated will be recorded on the web References
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platform. The estimation of the quantities of separate dry Cucchiella, F., D’Adamo, I. and Gastaldi, M. (2014)
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drawers. Data can then be used in a serious game which will quantitative model for Italian regions’, Energy Conversion
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external costs of transport for a sustainable logistics’,
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number of errors for performing an efficient domestic management', New Models for Sustainable Logistics:
waste separation. Respondents have claimed through the Internalization of External Costs in Inventory Management.
survey that they would prefer a technological device for Digiesi, S., Mossa, G. and Mummolo, G. (2013) ‘A
that purpose, which can be included into household sustainable order quantity model under uncertain product
furniture and can provide information about the correct demand’, in IFAC Proceedings Volumes (IFAC-PapersOnline).
modalities to separate home wastes. According to the
desires made by the respondents, we have therefore Digiesi, S., Mossa, G. and Rubino, S. (2015a) ‘A
 XXV Summer School “Francesco Turco” – Industrial Systems Engineering

sustainable EOQ model for repairable spare parts under 2100’. Available at:
uncertain demand’, IMA Journal of Management Mathematics. http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/%0Afeature/2013/
10/30/global-waste-on-pace-to-triple%0A.
European Commission (2011) 'Roadmap to a Resource
Efficient Europe, Communication from the Commission
to the European Parliament, the Council, the European
Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of
Regions'.
Gilli, M., Nicolli, F. and Farinelli, P. (2018) ‘Behavioural
attitudes towards waste prevention and recycling’,
Ecological Economics, 154, pp. 294–305.
Gustavsson, J. Cederberg, C. & Sonesson, U. (2011)
‘Global Food Losses and Food Waste-FAO Report.’, Food
and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.
Hoornweg, D. and Bhada-Tata, P. (2012) ‘What a Waste :
A Global Review of Solid Waste Management. Urban
development series’, World Bank.
ISTAT (2019) ‘Raccolta differenziata dei rifiuti:
comportamenti e soddisfazione dei cittadini e politiche
nelle città.’ Available at:
https://www.istat.it/it/files/2019/10/Report_raccolta_di
fferenziata.pdf.
Knickmeyer, D. (2020) ‘Social factors influencing
household waste separation: A literature review on good
practices to improve the recycling performance of urban
areas’, Journal of Cleaner Production. Elsevier, 245, p. 118605.
Mourad, M. (2016) ‘Recycling, recovering and preventing
“food waste”: Competing solutions for food systems
sustainability in the United States and France’, Journal of
Cleaner Production.
Mwanza, B. G., Mbohwa, C. and Telukdarie, A. (2018)
‘Levers Influencing Sustainable Waste Recovery at
Households Level: A Review’, in Procedia Manufacturing.
Nainggolan, D. et al. (2019) ‘Consumers in a Circular
Economy: Economic Analysis of Household Waste
Sorting Behaviour’, Ecological Economics, 166, p. 106402.
Ranieri, L. et al. (2018) ‘Energy recovery from the organic
fraction of municipal solid waste: A real options-based
facility assessment’, Sustainability (Switzerland).
Romano, G., Rapposelli, A. and Marrucci, L. (2019)
‘Improving waste production and recycling through zero-
waste strategy and privatization: An empirical
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256–263.
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waste matters - A systematic review of household food
waste practices and their policy implications’, Journal of
Cleaner Production.
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with evidence from Danish source separation
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waste in developing countries’, United Nations Human
Settlements Programme.
World Bank (2013) ‘Global Waste on Pace to Triple by
 XXV Summer School “Francesco Turco” – Industrial Systems Engineering

Appendix A. AVAILABLE WASTE COMPACTORS

Waste compactor Waste Method Place Dimensions Electric Price Website

type power
E-CUBE LABS (CLEAN Mixed Compaction Home 100 L, 120 L N.A. Upon https://www.ecubelabs.com/solution/
CUBE) or 240 L request
KRÜSHR 12 Mixed Compaction Home 86x28x56 120 V a.c. ~ 1400 https://www.krushr.com/12-inch-
cm3 recycling-trash-compactor/
BROAN TRASH Mixed Compaction Home 86x30x51 120 V a.c. Upon https://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-
COMPACTOR cm3 request bin/ajmadison/1050.html
WHIRLPOOL TRASH Mixed Compaction Home 86x13x61 115 V ~ 1000 € https://www.whirlpool.com/content/da
COMPACTOR cm3 m/global/documents/201312/owners-
manual-W10318827-RevC.pdf
Maytag MTUC7500AFM Mixed Compaction Home 87x38x61 115 V ~ 1100 € https://www.maytag.com/kitchen/dishwa
cm3 shers-and-
compactors/compactors/p.trash-
compactor-1.4-cu.-ft.mtuc7500afm.html
Kitchenaid Mixed Compaction Home 86x38x60 115 V ~ 1300 € https://www.homedepot.com/p/Kitchen
cm3 Aid-15-in-Built-In-Trash-Compactor-in-
Stainless-Steel-
GE COMPACTOR Mixed Compaction Home 89x35x60 120 V ~ 950 € https://products.geappliances.com/applia
cm3 nce/gea-specs/UCG1600LWW
KRÜSHR 24 Mixed or Compaction Home 86x59x56 120 V ~ 2000 € https://www.krushr.com/24-inch-
separate cm3 recycling-trash-compactor/
EMPRESS 2000-ORWAK Mixed Compaction Public 140x60x70 100-240 V Upon https://empress2000.it/prodotti/orwak-
TOM 1040 area cm3 request tom-1040/
EURVEN (BIG BELLY Mixed Roller Public 127x66x66 N.A. Upon https://www.eurven.com/it/prodotti/68/
SOLAR) compaction area cm3 request big-belly-solar
EURVEN (GREENY) PET Roller Public 260x120x145 380 V Upon https://www.eurven.com/it/
compaction area cm3 request
EURVEN (RVM X2 PET and Optical Public 180x74x89 230 V, 10 A Upon https://docplayer.net/44305039-Rvm-x2-
COMBI) aluminium reader, 3D area cm3 request combi-pet-plastic-bottles-drink-cans.html
cans scanner,
Compaction
 XXV Summer School “Francesco Turco” – Industrial Systems Engineering

Appendix B. SURVEY QUESTIONS AND RESULTS

Questions Answers nb. %

Answers answers
SECTION 1
1. Gender □ Male 176 45,7%
□ Female 209 54,3%
2. Age □ Less than 20-year-old 42 10,9%
□ 20- to 40-year-old 217 56,4%
□ 41- to 60-year-old 107 27,8%
□ More than 60-year-old 19 4,9%
3. Daily activity □ Student 111 28,8%
□ Worker 218 56,6%
□ Formally unemployed (Unemployed, retired, housewife, …) 56 14,5%
4. Educational level □ Primary school 6 1,6%
□ Lower-school level 76 19,7%
□ A-level 160 41,6%
□ Bachelor degree 110 28,6%
□ Master or Doctoral degree 28 7,3%
□ None 5 1,3%
5. Do you usually manage the separation □ No 38 9,9%
of waste fractions home? □ Yes 347 90,1%
6. Number of family members □ 1-3 126 32,7%
□ 4-6 242 62,9%
□ 7 or more 17 4,4%
7. Location of the family unit house □ Town centre 34 8,8%
□ Town district 294 76,4%
□ Out-of-town area 44 11,4%
□ Industrial area 13 3,4%
8. Type of residential dwelling □ Block of less than 8 flats 136 35,3%
□ Block of at least 8 flats 109 28,3%
□ Single-family house without garden 94 24,4%
□ Small house with garden 46 11,9%
9. Surface of house lodgings □ Less than 60 m2 11 2,9%
□ Between 60 and 90 m2 101 26,2%
□ Between 91 and 120 m2 108 28,1%
□ More than 120 m2 165 42,9%
10. Does your home have at least one □ Yes 353 91,7%
outdoor balcony (terrace / veranda ...)? □ No 32 8,3%
11. Do you have a Wi-Fi connection □ Yes 347 90,1%
home? □ No 38 9,9%
SECTION 2
12. If you use AroBA4 or similar small □ Very cumbersome / uncomfortable 38 9,9%
bins for your home waste separation, □ Quite cumbersome / uncomfortable 117 30,4%
how much do you consider them
cumbersome and/or uncomfortable? □ Little cumbersome / uncomfortable 205 53,2%
□ Not at All cumbersome / uncomfortable 25 6,5%
13. For which waste fractions do you □ Paper waste (PW) 82 16,0%
consider these bins too capacious? (more □ Residual unsorted waste (UW) 91 17,8%
answers are possible)
□ Plastic or Metal waste (PM) 79 15,4%
□ Organic waste (OW) 77 15,0%
□ Glass waste (GW) 183 35,7%
 XXV Summer School “Francesco Turco” – Industrial Systems Engineering

14. For which fractions do you think □ Paper waste (PW) 136 22,9%
that these bins have insufficient □ Residual unsorted waste (UW) 104 17,5%
capacity? (more answers are possible)
□ Plastic or Metal waste (PM) 191 32,2%
□ Organic waste (OW) 118 19,9%
□ Glass waste (GW) 44 7,4%
15. For which waste fractions do you □ Paper waste (PW) - reducing in smaller pieces 262 35,3%
usually try to reduce their volume? (more □ Residual unsorted waste (UW) - crushing 75 10,1%
possible answers)
□ Plastic or Metal waste (PM) - crushing 290 39,1%
□ Organic waste (OW) - compacting 42 5,7%
□ Glass waste (GW) - shredding 73 9,8%
16. If you do not know in which specific □ I throw it into the unsorted garbage 125 32,5%
waste bin a refuse should be thrown, □ I look for information on specialized websites 68 17,7%
what do you usually do?
□ I look for information on Internet sites even if not they are 20 5,2%
specialized in the subject
□ I look for information on the AroBa4 app or brochure 172 44,7%
SECTION 3
17. How useful for you would a □ Very useful 156 40,5%
technical support be to prepare waste □ Quite useful 173 44,9%
fractions, for example to meticulously
separate or clean materials? □ Little useful 51 13,2%
□ Not at All useful 5 1,3%
18. For which waste fraction do you □ Paper waste (PW) 45 11,7%
consider more useful such a support? □ Plastic or Metal waste (PM) 229 59,5%
□ Organic waste (OW) 95 24,7%
□ Glass waste (GW) 116 30,1%
19. What kind of support would you like □ A comprehensive paper guide 66 17,1%
to use to look for information for a □ An app for smartphone 193 50,1%
high-quality separate waste collection?
□ A bar code reader 122 31,7%
□ Others, (max. 50 characters) ……………… 4 1,0%
20. How useful for you would a □ Very useful 169 43,9%
domestic waste compactor? □ Quite useful 132 34,3%
□ Little useful 62 16,1%
□ Not at All useful 22 5,7%
- mean ± stand. error
mean
21. Give a mark (1 to 4) to the following □ Paper waste (PW) 2.01 ± 0.05
waste fractions based on how useful is □ Plastic or Metal waste (PM) 1.98 ± 0.06
reducing their volume? (1 = the most
impellent fraction, 4 = the least □ Organic waste (OW) 2.60 ± 0.05
impellent fraction) □ Glass waste (GW) 2.45 ± 0.06
- nb. %
Answers answers
22. In your opinion, how useful and □ Very useful / resistant 60 15,6%
resistant are the biodegradable bags □ Quite useful / resistant 94 24,4%
provided to collect organic wastes?
□ Little useful / resistant 168 43,6%
□ Not at All useful / resistant 63 16,4%
23. How useful would it be to have an □ Very useful 222 57,7%
organic waste sealer at home to reduce □ Quite useful 108 28,1%
the possibility of unpleasant smells?
□ Little useful 44 11,4%
□ Not at All useful 11 2,9%
24. Based on your knowledge, how □ Very useful 217 56,4%
much useful is collecting purer waste □ Quite useful 133 34,5%
fractions home?
□ Little useful 22 5,7%
□ Not at All useful 13 3,4%
 XXV Summer School “Francesco Turco” – Industrial Systems Engineering

25. In your opinion, how useful would a □ Very useful 216 56,1%
reward system be if proportionate to the □ Quite useful 124 32,2%
quality of the waste fractions collected?
□ Little useful 32 8,3%
□ Not at All useful 13 3,4%
26. In your opinion, how useful is □ Very useful 141 36,6%
increasing the number of separable waste □ Quite useful 158 41,0%
fractions home to increase the overall
quality of waste collection, upon □ Little useful 73 19,0%
consequent individual reward? □ Not at All useful 13 3,4%
27. Do you know the symbol identifying □ Yes 279 72,5%
plastic objects made of polyethylene □ No 106 27,5%
(PET)?
28. How much attention do you pay to □ Much attention 50 13,0%
the symbol PET before throwing a □ Enough attention 112 29,1%
plastic refuse into its specific bin?
□ A little attention 145 37,7%
□ No attention 78 20,3%
 XXV Summer School “Francesco Turco” – Industrial Systems Engineering

Appendix C. RESULTS OF DEPENDENCY TESTS

Legend: o stands for p>.05, * for p<.05, ** for p<.01, *** for p<.001, **** for p<.0001, - for ‘not available’

2
3 **** 3
4 **** ** 4
5 *** *** ** 5 6
7 - - - - o 7
8 - - - - o ** 8
9 - - - - - o *** 9
10 - - - - - ** **** - 10
11 *** - - - - o - - 11
12 - - - - o *** o o - 12
14 - - - - o - o - - 14
15 - - - - - - - - - * 15
Questions

16 o ** o - - - - - - - 16
17 - - - - - - - - - - - **** 17
18 * o o o - - - - o - - o o 18
19 * o o - o o o - - ** ** - 19
20 - - - - o * - - - * **** - - * 20
21 - - - o - - - - - - - - - - 21
22 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - * 22
23 o o - o - o o - - - - - - - o **** 23
24 o o o - - - - - - - - - - o - - 24
25 *** o o - - - - - - - - - - - - - 25
26 o o o - * - - - - - - - *** - - 26
27 **** **** o - - - - - - - - - - - - - 27
28 o o o - - - - - - - - - - - - - 28
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 11 14 15 16 17 19 21 22

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