High amount of food waste generated is the main cause to most issues related to landfills such as foul odour, toxic leachate and emission of greenhouse gases. Thus, to overcome this issue, the separation and recycling of these food wastes is one way of success, in the road to divert these wastes from entering disposal sites. Although recycling has commonly been acknowledged a possible waste management strategy, its full potential and benefits are yet to be realized and the rate of public participation has continued remain low in Matang Jaya city. Through this research, the objectives were to identify the influencing factors of public attitudes towards households of Matang Jaya City in source separation of food waste in households based on the TPB and also determine the strongest factors which behavioural intention towards food waste separation at source. The use of this psychological model in this research is to understand house holder’s reaction towards food waste separation. The refined questionnaire was designed and distributed to 381 respondents on determining recycling behaviour which consists of separation of food waste which was derived from components of the Theory of Planned Behaviour. The data analysis was performed using The Statistical Package for Social Sciences for Windows (SPSS, v19.0). According to analysis, subjective norms is found to be significant predictors towards behaviour where the concerns from the well-being of family, neighbours, colleagues and community influencing the attitude of respondents on doing the job. Respondent’s favourable thinking and opinion about food waste separation at home contribute towards positive attitude and consistently parallel with their intention. This showed that, attitude contributes the strongest factor towards intention compared to others variable. Thus, assumption can be made, those respondents might participate this activity in their daily lives although it needs more focus and adequate time on handling this job. Excuses and complaints will not help us to build spirit on doing this behaviour; sometimes it needs an extra effort on doing it.

1. AN APPLICATION OF THEORY PLAN BEHAVIOUR TO INVESTIGATE THE
INFLUENCING FACTORS OF MATANG JAYA RESIDENT IN SOURCE
SEPARATION OF FOOD WASTE
Nur Shuhada Bt Arbaan
Jabatan Kejuruteraan Alam Sekitar
Politeknik Sultan Idris Shah
nshuhada@psis.edu.my
ABSTRAK
High amount of food waste generated is the main cause to most issues related to landfills such as
foul odour, toxic leachate and emission of greenhouse gases. Thus, to overcome this issue, the
separation and recycling of these food wastes is one way of success, in the road to divert these
wastes from entering disposal sites. Although recycling has commonly been acknowledged a
possible waste management strategy, its full potential and benefits are yet to be realized and the
rate of public participation has continued remain low in Matang Jaya city. Through this research,
the objectives were to identify the influencing factors of public attitudes towards households of
Matang Jaya City in source separation of food waste in households based on the TPB and also
determine the strongest factors which behavioural intention towards food waste separation at
source. The use of this psychological model in this research is to understand house holder’s
reaction towards food waste separation. The refined questionnaire was designed and distributed
to 381 respondents on determining recycling behaviour which consists of separation of food
waste which was derived from components of the Theory of Planned Behaviour. The data analysis
was performed using The Statistical Package for Social Sciences for Windows (SPSS, v19.0).
According to analysis, subjective norms is found to be significant predictors towards behaviour
where the concerns from the well-being of family, neighbours, colleagues and community
influencing the attitude of respondents on doing the job. Respondent’s favourable thinking and
opinion about food waste separation at home contribute towards positive attitude and
consistently parallel with their intention. This showed that, attitude contributes the strongest
factor towards intention compared to others variable. Thus, assumption can be made, those
respondents might participate this activity in their daily lives although it needs more focus and
adequate time on handling this job. Excuses and complaints will not help us to build spirit on doing
this behaviour; sometimes it needs an extra effort on doing it.
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Considering that the population of Malaysia is expected to double in the year 2020, the production of
food waste will be expected to increase tremendously. With that the environmental problems in
relation to rotting wastes would also be expected to be doubled. Some steps have been taken by the
government to manage solid waste through the recycling programs. Alternatively, these
biodegradable wastes can be diverted from going to the landfills by taking up other options of
appropriate waste management. Malaysians are producing more wastes with each passing year. It is

2. estimated that the amount of solid waste produced by Malaysians is about 15,000 tons daily.
However, only less than 5% of that recycled (Bee Dees, 2001). The solid waste has been managed
traditionally over 30 years with no special intention. In the year of 2007, Government of Malaysia
gazettes a comprehensive solid waste management and public cleansing act. A federal department
together with non-governmental organization (NGO) have been working together to tackle the solid
waste problem. (Department of Environmental and Sustainability, 2006).
Wet food waste is recognized as the most problematic waste stream that complicates the
effectiveness of most waste recycling activities. The majority of waste is clearly recyclable and if
separated, it will substantially reduce the overall expenditure in the complex world of waste
management. When food waste is separated, collected and treated effectively, it eliminates the
methane gas release from landfills that is 20 times 4 worse than CO2 in terms of greenhouse gases
(GHG). The treated food waste can produce methane for heating and cooking as well as fertilizer for
agricultural activities, further cutting back on the use of depleting and polluting fossil fuels. Removing
the food waste stream from the municipal solid waste generated from your building, development or
city immediately enhances the quality of the remaining waste for separation, turning a once
economically and environmentally depleting process into one that generates revenue, employment
and supports the environment in a sustainable manner.
Although recycling has commonly been acknowledged a possible waste management strategy, its full
potential and benefits are yet to be realized and the rate of public participation has continued remain
low in Matang Jaya city. This is due to environmental awareness which is very low in Malaysia. Local
Authorities often complain lack of cooperation from general public with respect to the provision of
solid waste management services. According to Omran (2009), despite the effort and money spent on
the recycling campaign organized by Malaysian government, the recycling campaigns had failed to
inspire the public due to a lack of support from householders and the need for longer term education
and awareness campaign that will change public attitudes. Understanding on concepts to motivate
people on participation in waste separation can help to ensure a better success of the implementation
of waste management programs. Factors known to contribute to the low level of recycling are the
absence of facility, low awareness, and also negative perception and believe towards recycling.
Recycling needs to be adequately communicated to the public, so that resident’s habit, behavior and
traditions can be changed for the better, enabling local authorities to achieve government goals of
waste management. Thus, it is important to identify determinant which can drive people in Matang
Jaya to perform waste separation at source.
1.3 OBJECTIVES
Public interest in the food waste separation activities in Kuching City contributed by low
environmental awareness and hence limited participation in food waste separation. Therefore to
bridge the gap, it is the goal of this study to provide a clear guide which could be adopted by other
cities or towns facing the same problems. Given the above goal, the objective of this project:
1) To identify the influencing factors of public attitudes towards households of Matang City in
source separation of food waste in households based on the TPB
2) To determine strongest factors which behavioral intention towards food waste separation
at source.

3. 1.4 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
The Theory Plan Behavior is a theoretical framework to aid understanding of perceived effectiveness
and public attitude towards the research. The use of psychological models in this theory is to
understand house holder’s reaction towards food waste separation which require underpin these
choices. According to this theory, intention is the precursors of the behavior. Intention is influenced
by three factors: attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control. In this study also, there
are other factors that will be included in predicting the intention to perform the behavior. It is moral
norm which is, situational factor. In this case, the intention can be defined as an intention to separate
the household waste at source based on waste categories.
Fig. 1: Utilizing factors introduced by TPB and an added variable to predict intention and
behaviour to perform food waste separation at home.
1.5 STUDY AREA
This study focuses on the urban areas, where the accumulation of solid waste which contain of food
waste is a direct consequence of life. Matang Jaya City area has been chosen as the study area because
there is an ample opportunity to develop food waste separation awareness. Furthermore, no formal
separation and recycling regulations exist in Matang City at the present time. While, this study only
focuses on households in Matang Jaya City as they are the main source of solid waste generation as
well as the final consumers of product. Matang Jaya City has huge population to support the research.
2.0 METHODOLOGY
The population in this study is the residents of Matang Jaya which consists of 50,000 populations. The
ever increasing need for a representative statistical sample in empirical research has created the
demand for an effective method of determining sample size. To address the existing gap, Krejcie &
Morgan (1970) came up with sample size for a given population for easy reference which depicted in
Table 3.1. According to Krejcie and Morgan (1970) 381 responses were required to achieve a 95%
confidence interval in generalizing to the 50000 population. The basic rule on sample size is the larger
the better. According to Kent (1993:54), sample sizing, however, is a complex matter, with many
considerations. The location of study sample is attached in Appendix.
Table 1: Determining Sample Size for Given Population

4. 2.2. QUESTIONNAIRE
The first part of this study involved the development and administration of a 30 item questionnaire
in order to collect quantitative data. The refined questionnaire was designed to determine recycling
behaviour which consists of separation of food waste which was derived from components of the
Theory of Planned Behaviour. The questionnaire was distributed in English and Malay language with
purpose of the questionnaire also been stated. The items within these sections were aimed at
investigating the participants’ attitudes, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control, situational
factors, behaviour and intentions. An initial background section was also included in order to collect
information related to the participant’s age, gender, race, education background, employment and
their types of house. For each questionnaire item with exclusion of demographic attributes, the
respondents were asked to indicate agreement with the given statements on a 5-point Likert scale in
which the response could range from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). The questionnaire
contained three sections:
1) Section A: Sociodemographic information
2) Section B: Factors contribute towards food waste separation
a) Attitude towards separation
b) Subjective Norms- perception againsts social pressure to separate food waste
c) Perceived Behavioral Control- perception of the ability to perform food waste separation
d) Situational Factors- factors that can motivate and inhibit waste separation
e) Behavioral intention towards waste separation
3) Recommendations towards food waste separation
2.1 DATA ANALYSIS
The data analysis was performed using The Statistical Package for Social Sciences for Windows
(SPSS, v19.0). The Cronbach’s alpha test was firstly applied to evaluate the reliability of the likert-type
scale questions with the aim of ensuring each question under a variable are all measuring the same
underlying attributes. Descriptive statistics (frequencies) were used to described sociodemography of
respondents and mean scores for beliefs (attitude, subjective norms and perceived controls) and
additional individual factors (situational factors).
Independent sample T-tests were used to determine the relationship between psychological
factors and behavioural intention towards separation at source among respondents using Pearson
Correlation. The Pearson correlation coefficient is a measure of the strength of the linear relationship

5. between two variables. If the relationship between the variables is not linear, then the correlation
coefficient does not adequately represent the strength of the relationship between the variables.
Furthermore, multiple regression analysis using Enter method were performed to determine which
factors have the most influence towards the behavioural intention on food waste separation at source
among the respondents.
Cronbach's alpha is widely used in the social sciences which measures the degree consistency of
the responses obtained. It’s described how much each item is associated with another in the split-half
reliability test. Cronbach's is related conceptually to the Spearman–Brown prediction formula. The
theoretical value of alpha varies from zero to 1, since it is the ratio of two variances. However,
depending on the estimation procedure used, estimates of alpha can take on any value less than or
equal to 1, including negative values, although only positive values make sense. Higher values of alpha
are more desirable. Cronbach's alpha coefficient is a measure of squared correlation between
observed scores and true scores.
The reliability is measured in terms of the ratio of true score variance to observe score variance.
According to Tonglet (2004), a reliability coefficient of greater than 0.7 indicated that the measure has
achieved acceptable reliability. Reliability coefficients of the questionnaires were tested for six
independent factors.
3.0 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
3.1 Demographic Information
The demographic composition of the sample is shown in Table 2. There were 19.6 percent more
female respondents in the survey than male respondents. There shows that respondent bias towards
female 59.8 percent than males 40.2 percent and person at age 21-29 years old 56.4 percent. Malay
comprises the majority of the samples, with 55.1 percent of total respondents respectively. In terms
of education, 37.5 percent of respondents are from higher education level which is university & degree
graduates and 34.1 percent from Diploma & Certificate graduates. Indeed, the sample population is
well-educated, making them excellent potential to separate their waste from the source.
Approximately 45.4 percent of samples populations were students, and 48 respondents which were
12.6 percent were among participants whom reside in apartment house and the other 333
respondents which were 87.4 percent reside in landed residential (terraced/ semi-
detached/bungalow).
Table 2: Demographic Composition of Sample
Factors n %
SEX
Male 153 40.2
Female 228 59.8
AGE
21-29 215 56.4
30-42 109 28.6
43+ 57 15.0
RACE
Malay 210 55.1
Chinese 54 14.2
India 60 15.7
Others 57 15.0

6. EDUCATION
Secondary School 8 2.1
Diploma/Certificate 130 34.1
University/Degree 143 37.5
Master 83 21.8
PHD 17 4.5
EMPLOYMENT
Government 149 39.1
Student 173 45.4
School 31 8.1
Private 20 5.2
Retiree 8 2.1
HOUSE TYPE
Terraced 175 45.9
Semidetached 83 21.8
Bungalow 21 5.5
Apartment 48 12.6
Others 54 14.2
Table 3: Guidelines to determine the strength of relationship (Cohen, 1988).
r value Strength of relationship
±0.1 to ±0.29 Small
±0.3 to ±0.49 Medium
±0.5 to ±1.0 Large
3.2 Reliability analysis
Table 4 reported a reliability analysis of the questionnaire items revealed that all variables
measured were reliable with reliability coefficient values (a) above 0.7.
Table 4: Questionnaire items and their reliability coefficient
Factor Variable Reliability
coefficient
Attitude 1. In my opinion, to separate my food waste at home is a good
activity
2. I think that food waste separation at home would be an
interesting task
3. Food waste separation at home should be further promoted in
Malaysia
4. For me, food waste separation at home is useful
5. In my opinion, to separate my food waste at home is needed
0.877
Subjective
Norms
1. My family would think I should separate my food waste at
home
2. My neighbours would think I should participate in food waste
separation at home
3. My neighbours would think I should be involved in food waste
separation at home
0.703

7. 4. My colleagues would think I should be involved in food waste
separation at home
5. The community in the area I live think I should separate my
food waste at home
Perceived
behavioural
control
1. The decision to separate my food waste is completely up to me
2. For me, to separate food waste at home would be an easy task
3. I have complete control in deciding whether or not to separate
my food waste at home
4. If wanted to, I could separate food waste at home
0.823
Situational
factors
1. Not having enough space in my house to deal with the
separated waste would make it difficult for me to separate my
food waste at home
2. Not having enough time to properly separate my food waste
would me difficult for me to separate my food waste at
home
3. Not having proper knowledge on how to separate my food
waste would make it difficult for me to separate my food
waste at home
4. Not having the local authority enforcing food waste separation
at homes would make me less motivated to separate my food
waste at home
5. Lack of cooperation from other members of the house in
performing food waste separation would make it difficult for me
to separate my food waste at home
0.711
Behaviour 1. I regularly recycle certain parts of my waste by selling them to
the recyclable waste collectors
2. I regularly recycle certain parts of my waste by putting them
inside the recyclable item bins provided by the local
authority
3. I always attempt to reduce the amount of waste at my home
4. I regularly disposed all my food waste at home separately
from the household wastes
5. I regularly make use some parts of my food waste for other
useful purposes
6. I have never recycled any parts of my household waste
0.732
Intention 1. I intend to separate my food waste at home on a regular basis
if there are food waste collection measures
2. I plan to participate in food waste separation at home if I am
satisfied with the food waste collection measures by the
local authorities
3. I will try my best to separate my food waste at home if am
convinced with the benefits of food waste separation at home
4. I will make an effort to separate my food waste at home if the
local authority enforces public participation in food waste
separation at homes
5. I intend to separate my food waste at home if te local authority
provides satisfactory services for eth separated food waste
collection
0.758

8. 4.0 RESULTS & DISCUSSION
Pearson’s correlation coefficients were computed between pairs of the measured variables. The
Pearson correlation coefficient of each component and the behavioral intention were all correlated
to behavioral intention and also reached the significance level (p<0.05), except the perceived
behavioral control component which did not reach the level of significance.
As shown in Table 4.5, the results showed that the attitude toward the behavior is correlated to
the behavioral intention (r=0.358) and the null hypothesis was rejected because the significance
probability was 0.000. Positive attitudes to separate food waste from the source were the most
significant predictors of waste separation intentions for the respondents, and this was also the factor
most strongly correlated with their waste separation intentions.
The subjective norm (r=0.272) and situational factor (r=0.289) were correlated to the behavioral
intention and also null hypothesis was rejected because the significance probability was 0.000. This
showed that concern and support from the people close to the respondents was significant, suggesting
that family, neighbours, colleagues, community and its well-being were more likely to indicate that
they would separate their food waste in the future.
The perceived behavioral control is correlated to the behavioral intention (r=0.019) but the
significance was 0.709, which means that it did not reach the level of significance p<0.05. The negative
relationship between this measure and intention was unexpected. Although, the respondents have
favourable attitude and they are optimistic towards separate their food waste. However, due to
analysis, respondents seemed to be less personal sense of obligation to engage in food waste
separation in their house. But the relationships between the variables were found to be moderate but
significant and correlated to each other.
Fig 2: Proposed Predictive Model of TPB in Food Waste Separation at Matang Jaya
Multiple regressions were used to determine which of the four factors identified in the factor analysis
exerted the greatest influence on waste separation intentions, with waste separation intentions as
dependent variable. Multiple regressions calculate R2, the proportion of the variance accounted for
by the independent variables. The statistical significance of this is tested by the F ratio, and the model
in this study was significance at the 99% confidence level. The relative contribution of each of the
independent variables to explaining the variance in the dependent variable is determined by the beta
weight. The variables whose beta weight has a significant t of less than 0.05 are significant at the 95%

9. confidence level. Results that are statistically significant at the 95% confidence level are described as
statistically significant.
Table 5: Multiple Regression- Intention on Waste Separation from Sources
Theory of Plan Behaviour,
adjusted R2= 0.312
Theory of Plan Behaviour,
including the additional
variables,adjusted R2= 0.347
Beta t Sig. Beta t Sig.
Attitude .207 4.287 0.000023043
626
.193 4.101 0.0000504
315
Subjectiv
e Norms
.445 9.203 0.000023000
000
.418 8.809 0.0000000
000
Perceived
Behavior
al Control
-.084 -1.954 0.051398978
282
-.108 -2.549 0.0111844
972
Situation
al Factor
.198 4.645 0.0000047
198
As shown in Table 5, the components of TPB; attitude, subjective norm and perceived 25 behavioral
control were entered first. These three components collectively explained 31.2% of the variance in
waste separation intentions, with subjective norms (β=0.445) and attitude (β=0.207) being statistically
significant predictor. In terms of perceived behavioral control, it exerted a negative influence on
behavioral intent (β=-0.084). Therefore, for respondents who participate on waste separation at
home, attitude and subjective norms were the significant indicators of their intent to do the behavior.
This was support by Davies (2002) had indicated that perceived behavioral control does not
significantly contribute to the explanation of intentions and behavior. He also argued that a control
factor which facilitate and inhibit the performance of the behavior provides a more accurate on the
perceived behavioral control.
When additional variables were entered into multiple regressions, the percentage of variance
increased to 34.7% with subjective norms, situational factor and attitude being statistically significant.
Encouraging perceived social pressure to perform waste separation from source were the most
significant predictors. This suggests that respondents intend to perform food waste separation when
respondents perceives that important others such as family, neighbours, colleagues and community
think that respondents should participate in food waste separation. For this study, perceived
behavioral control had operationalized by adding control factors with addition of situational factors.
Finding showed that there is significant influence of situational factors towards behavioral intention.
Thus, in order to have a strong behavioral intention, respondents should also have a high level of
perception, strong influence from the family and community, and a high level of feeling of capability
to do the behavior. This result was supported by the idea of the Theory Planned Behavior by Ajzen
(1991) which claimed that attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control are the
predictors of behavioral intention.

10. 5.0 Conclusion
In this study, the aimed was to determine the significant factors of public attitudes towards
households of Matang Jaya City in source separation of food waste based on Theory Plan Behaviour.
For that purposes, situational factor variable was added in this study to look either this factor motivate
or inhibit their effort to separate the waste. According to analysis by using SPSS program (version 19),
it was found group of socio-demographical variables were trivial significant towards attitude,
subjective norms and perceived behavioral control. Although gender (p=0.000051) in demographic
attributes was significant towards situational factors, but the values of mean score between male
(3.2536) and female (3.7088) seem to be less effected between them. There was no significant
towards male and female towards waste separation. It has been proven through T-test analysis.
Although they stay at different types of house, but it shows that they have a similarities view of
attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control and situational factor towards food waste
separation.
Attitude seems to be the strong factors contributed towards waste separation. Respondent’s
favorable thinking and opinion about food waste separation at home contribute towards positive
attitude and consistently parallel with their intention. The correlation between behavioral intention
and individual factor among respondent also detected that attitudes (r=0.358, p=0.000) contribute
the strongest factor towards intention compared to others variable. Pearson’s coefficient correlation
was measured correlation between attitudes with those variables. For Subjective norm (r=0.466,
p=0.006), it is clear that separation on food waste attitude and behavior are affected by situational
factors. In order to encourage this behavior amongst the respondent, it is found that concerns from
the well-being of the family, neighbours, colleagues and community also significant predictors on
separating their food waste. Additionally, the results on perceived behavioral control (r=) showed
that with appropriate skills, knowledge, resource and opportunities, this will influencing respondent
to complete control in deciding to separate their food waste at home. For those finding, respondents
base their decision were also depend on their perceived ease or difficulty to perform or not to perform
the behavior with regard to the opinions of others (family, neighbours, colleagues & community).
Multiple regression analysis was conducted in order to examine the significant predictors of
waste separation behavior. As clearly showed that situational factor indicates minor significant
influenced to respondents due to courage and facilitate them to segregate their food waste. There
were several factors which influencing on food waste separation behavior. Adequate space and time
encourage them to segregate their waste conveniently. Applicable knowledge and support from
members of the house make an effective effort on segregation their food waste at home. With regard
to segregation on food waste, assumption can be made, those respondents might participate this
activity in their daily lives although it needs more focus and adequate time on handling this job.
Excuses and complaints will not help us to build spirit on doing this behavior; sometimes it needs an
extra effort on doing it.
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