CBS’s New Waste-Sorting Scheme: Case Study
Intro: In this case study we will be looking over a new uptake scheme that has been implemented by CBS on the topic of sorting waste. The research is based on a few known facts. We know that CBS have placed only a few centrally located trash bins in the Campus. The reason for the few number of bins is to make the emptied prosses of the bins much less costly. CBS also have consulted with the designer of the building so that the style of the bins visually matches the environment that they have been placed so that they do not drown attentions to themselves. Last but not leased we know that and email has been send around that includes detailed report on the benefits of recycling when that scheme was introduced.
Problem: Since the implementation of the scheme there has been significant challenges that CBS has faced. It consists of the fact that there is a major lack students and staff members that are actually not taking advantage of the newly placed equipment on Campus.
Goal of the case: The goal of this case study will be to look and review the current status of the scheme and to find out what is the reason behind the negative outcome that has occurred. After that to suggest a proposal for changing or adjusting the current state of things so it can lead to positive improvements as well as making a much more welcoming environment for the students and staff of CBS to start using the disposal bins as it was intended, thus increasing the positive effect that the scheme will have on the environment as a hole.
Theoretical Method: The Theoretical concept that we will be using for the case will be Exploratory approach. More specifically we will focus on the motivational aspect of this theory. And the model that we will be using will be EV model and we will look into the Affective attitude on this topic. Case: When we are talking about the waste disposal prosses we need to look at few factors that are key for the successful implementation of that process. There are also a few aftermath actions of what we can do with the disposed waste that can be really beneficial as a hole for the human society however we will not focus on them since the main problem of this case will be to study how we can improve or change the current implementations and the steps that are required to be taken when undertaking such project so we can accomplish the task of increasing the usage of the bins put in place. Making it efficient as well as cost effective.
For the specific of the case we will be looking at a strategy that CBS has implemented for gathering and sorting waste. How they have put into action the strategy. And where the scheme backfired.
The coherent assessment: The connection between the waste sorting prosses will have a widely spread positive implementation if we connect it directly to the environment. That should be the correlation that we need to establish as our end goal and the scheme that we are looking at. By improving scheme and making it more desirable to everyone we will be able to achieve our end goal witch is to improve the environment and get rid of the trash and waste that is polluting it. However in order to reach that goal we need to break down that prosses into a few smaller once in order to understand how and what actions can lead into such aftermath being the end goal. Starting with the factors that can effect that result. We can divide them into two main sub-categories. On one end, the environment and equipment that is needed to store the waste upon disposal from the consumer and the second one is the end consumer himself.
The first sub factor is mainly focused on the material requirements that are needed to reach the goal. Such as waste bins, trash-bags, witch are the most commonly used. Also there could be separated trash containers and even automated machines. Containers witch can require the people to put only one type of waste such as metal, plastic or glass. And after that those containers to be transported to factories that then can take the specific material and retrieve and extract the different components from witch the given product has been made of. Some example for such prosses is recycling of old mobile devices like phones or laptops, or other electronic devices. In some cases cars or even other industrial machines. The prosses required the gathering of such machines and extracting the reusable parts like gold, silver or any other preaches metal that can be smelted and re-used into something else. The good news here is that the scheme has already implemented the necessary bins to jump start the prosses.
However there is a problem, and that problem consists of the fact that those bins are not fully utilized by the people that are supposed to store the waste into them. The reason behind such outcome is that the provided bins are placed in a very centralized location instead of being spared around more. Yes that way we can minimize the cost to the bins being emptied however it does not make it easy for the people to actually use them in the first place. Since the location on which the bins are placed is centralized that gives the false illusion that the bins are easy to reach, however that isn’t the case. It will be more efficient to have multiple bins spared out in multiple locations to cover as much ground of the campus as possible and that will motivate the people to use the specific sorting waste bins for metal, plastic and paper more, rather than the common waste bins. A bad example of the scheme are the following bins on the picture below.
The reason why this is a bad location for the bins is not the central location of the bins themselves but what is around them. If you walk in both of the directions of the bins for no more than 2 to 3 minutes you will end up in a supermarket. And the majority of the supermarkets have so called automated machines. Those machines are known to give back a small amount of money back to the people who use them as a positive reward for returning bottles of a different variety (Metal, Plastic, Glass). Every logically thinking person will prefer to go to the automated machine and put it’s waste there and get something back, rather than put the garbage that he has in the bin from the first picture, even if it means that he will have to walk a short distance. And then there are the general waste bins. Those bins are available everywhere around the campus and they have different shapes and sizes. They could be found outdoors as well as indoors. Before looking at the most common garbage bin out there we will look at the other sub-category since it is closely tide to the suggested solution that the case will suggest for resolving the problem. And the Second Sub-category are the end consumers.
In order for the first sub category to work as much efficient as possible the consumers need to part take in the prosses as well. Without them the prosses can add up a few unnecessary steps that are making the hole efficiency add additional costs that can even make the wastes gathering and sorting prosses too expensive to be beneficial for everyone like the general waste bins, that will require additional separations of the garbage to then be able to be recycled properly. But involving the people to part take in this prosses might be more difficult than we think. That’s why There are a lot of factors that can be taken into consideration for every individual person or household or company. Some of those benefactors can be: time-consumption, additional cost on their behalf, convenience and many others.
There is a common misconception that every individual needs to strive for the benefit of the society however if a survey is conducted on the bases of: “Should we care for the environment and should we strive to improve it” the majority of people will answer with a definitive yes, however in realty the actions speck different outcome. Humans are usually rational animals, and by that logic it shouldn’t be a problem to implement rational rules that are followed. “ If we store our wastes separately it will be easier and more efficient to recycle them and that will lead to cleaner environment and less pollution” however in reality that is not the case, even if rules are introduced and proper environment is introduced we still see an outcome that we don’t want. And the reason for that as I mention is that a lot of factors take place in every decision an individual person makes. Most of the time those factors contradict directly with the rules that we want to implement. That boils down primarily to the fact that when it comes to a choice or a decision the likelihood of an individual to make a choice based on emotion is much higher that a choice based on rationality.
The reason behind that is because in our everyday lives we are constantly bombarded with chooses, from the beginning of every single day. Starting with a choice when we wake up in the morning, what to wear for the day, or what to have for breakfast, or even our first cup of coffee.
So if we overanalyze and rationalize everything it will be time-consuming and exhausting to say the least. That’s why people tent to trust there emotional decision making in most of those cases. Like where to throw there trash for example. Thus we need to introduce another factor and that is enforcing the rules. The enforcements can be positive or negative. The positive effect most of the time is more efficient in making sure that the rules are followed however they can be more costly as well. For example in Many supermarkets in Denmark there are recycling machines that were shown in the pictures above, that give back money to the consumers if they return the bottles of a specific verity (Cans, Glass bottles or Plastic bottles). However that return of money to the consumer increases the effectiveness of the recycling prosses afterwards. Another example for negative enforcements from households in Germany.
There is a low that states for every household there must be at least 4 separate garbage disposals: 1 for metal, 1 for plastic, 1 for paper and 1 for general waste) and if people don’t separate there waste when the garbage truck comes to collect the wastes and they are not sorted properly the household will be reported and they will receive a fine by the government that they need to pay or if they don’t that can lead to more serious outcome even jail time. That does not have any negative impact on the recycling prosses afterwards, but It can make a prerequisite for corruption down the line. That’s why I think that the positive outcome of following the recycling rules is more beneficial in long term even thought it does increase the cost overall and it will appeal more to the emotional decision making of the consumers. Suggestion: Since the goal of the case is to find a way to stimulate the use of the containers by students and staff of CBS. The idea works around the ID cards of the students and the staff members. CBS already have an implemented system that allows the students to put a sum amount of currency into there ID, for example to use the printing machines on Campus. How about implementing that system into the use of the recycling bins as well. For example: a similar checking machine that has been implemented to the printers where the students need to swipe there ID to register it and to copy and print there documents or paperwork.
However instead or widowing a sum of money from the card a sum will be added every time someone adds a waste into the dedicated garbage bins. That way people will be more invested with what they do with there garbage and will think twice before just throwing it on the grown or just leaving it. That part of the idea will require some upfront cost, for the integration and implementation of the system initially, however it will make it cost effective in the long run. The second part of the idea consist of implementing the General waste bins. As I mention before they are the most commonly spread bins around the campus, and almost all of them can be found in rather close proximity to one another. Usually the waste that is left after removing the metal, plastic, glass and paper the rest can be divided into organic and non-organic garbage. Witch then will me much easily recycled into useful materials like fuel or implemented into other products after processing.
The goal of implementing the general waste bins is to remove them completely from the Campus and replace them, or adapt them into the separation of garbage thus not allowing the mentality of “every type of waste” to go in the same bin. That will enable the students and the staff to adopt singular mentality towards the disposal of wastes on Campus territory.
The end goal with this strategy is to make the dedicated waist bins the main place where people go to dispose of there waist by positive encouragement on the set actions. And to replace or just give a different purpose the general waist bins with once that are going to be only for organic and non-organic materials.
Summary: In order to improve the current state of witch the waste-sorting scheme works we need to appeal to the students and staff members at CBS in a positive and rewarding way to encourage the proper use of bins available in the campus territory. By implementing already existing technology into the scheme with the ID cards. And to insure that the following scheme will be followed all the other general waste bins will be given a new purpose of organic and non-organic bins. In the early days of the implementation of this plan it is possible that people won’t embrace it with open arms straight away, however with time and encouragement I believe that this will be the best and most efficient way to improve the dire situation of this scheme.
