Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

It’s a well known fact that improper solid waste disposal is a big problem.

Humans continue to output Millions of tons of waste everyday and all of the

unusable resources go to landfills and oceans. According to an article by

Torres (2017), this creates a lot of problems for us and the environment such

as water, soil, food contamination, destruction of natural habitats, and

accumulation of hazardous chemicals and other contaminants.

According to an article by Dubey (2018), waste segregation in India is one of

the most important practices that we need to promote and enforce for effective

waste regulation and reduction of landfill sizes gradually and come to no

landfills in four to five years from now. Even in Western Europe, where they

have been working on developing a waste management system for the last 30

years or so, nearly one-third of waste is still going to the engineered landfill.

For waste incinerators, mixed waste is a problem. Mixed waste leads to a

higher residual in the waste-to-energy plants. In Western Europe, the average

residue at mass burn incinerator is around 10% but in Indian conditions, it is

30%. This is mainly due to a mix of waste streams. Typically based on

tonnage, the collection contractor mixes bricks, concrete and other heavy

pieces in MSW to get higher revenue. One method of segregation is source

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segregation, the sorting of different materials comprising a waste at its point of

generation, for a simpler and more efficient recycling or final disposal. If

people do source segregation at home, but they get mixed up in the collection

vehicle along the route to treatment plant, there is no point of doing source

segregation. Also, educating people to do source segregation at home takes

time. Researchers will look at the options of doing segregation at a central

facility. The use of any proper treatment technology requires separated waste.

For treatment technologies, waste needs to be clean enough for effective

treatment. The focus of this research is to find ways of effective segregation at

the first step of the waste management- segregation during disposal. Multiple

attempts have been made to stop or at least lessen this global dilemma and so

far we have been successful in doing so. Things such as waste treatment plants

segregate large amounts of trash everyday and then recycle or repurpose them

afterwards. The downside of this is that machines use more energy than

needed when they sort out more unsegregated waste.According to an article by

Eikeland (2015), we don’t have enough usable resources to sustain the demand

of machine and power production, hence the increased prices of

energy-providing assets are induced. Researchers have tried to lessen this

problem by promoting and educating the masses about proper waste

segregation, but no matter what the approach is or circumstance, people still

find some difficulty in throwing their trash properly.

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This study aims to find a way to address this problem and instead of constantly

ordering the people to follow the rules we make them follow it by taking

advantage of a phenomenon called Cognitive Bias. Cognitive Bias is basically

a deviation in rational thinking or decision making. Certain factors or stimuli

influence how the brain works and usually this happens when the brain is

overloaded with information, which in turn helps a person decide quickly

during an urgent situation by simplifying information processing. Because

most people classify proper waste segregation as a least priority during certain

circumstances, they rely on heuristics as a method of improvising.

1.2 Objectives of the Study

The main objective of the study is to critically improve solid waste

management by using cognitive biases in order to invoke human participation

of such activity. Specifically, this study will look at the following:

1. To identify the increase in percentage of proper waste segregated due

to persuasive influence through cognitive bias

2. To make recommendation to improve the operational effectiveness and

maximize the participation of unsuspecting passersby in solid waste

management

3. To classify and evaluate the reasons behind the defiant behaviour of

people on waste segregation.

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4. To deduce an effective design that is centered on taking critical

advantage of biased reasoning

1.3 Significance of the Study

The study in general is made to help improve and promote solid waste

management. However in this study the approach for getting such results

requires human participation, thus, the study will provide more information

about the human behavior under different forms of stimuli and stress which is

important in helping understand the human psychology. The study will be

helpful in saving time and expenses on energy and other resources by cutting

its demand.

1.4.1 Scope

For this study the experiment will be conducted in Libertad National

High School, this place has a large population of students with a huge

variation of age and status. The samples will be collected randomly and this

will help give us unbiased results since physical interaction with the samples

would affect their decision making. Each garbage bin design will be monitored

for 5 days in weekdays.

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​1.4.2 Limitations

​The researchers attempted to apply the hawthorne effect as a

non-constant variable, but due to some complications that resulted from the

vendors informing the students about the camera, the researchers had to make

the hawthorne effect as a constant variable throughout the whole experiment​.

Due to a tight schedule the researchers are only able to test on one school for

experimentation. Lastly, the experiments will be done in intervals since only

one camera is available ​for observing the samples specifically it will run for

14 hours starting from 4am to 6pm.

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 Chapter 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

2.1 Solid Waste Management

Solid Waste Management is a term used to describe the process of

collecting, segregating, and treating solid waste. Waste management is all

about how solid waste can be changed and used as a valuable resource.

Improper disposal of municipal solid waste can create unsanitary conditions,

and these conditions in turn can lead to pollution of the environment and to

outbreaks of vector-borne disease—that is, diseases spread by rodents and

insects. There are several recognized methods of proper solid waste

management such as a sanitary landfill, incineration, recycling, composting

and pyrolysis.

2.1.a The Problem of Mismanaged Trash

The average american throws 4.3 pounds of waste according to an article by

EPA USA (2013). Multiply that by 365 and 7.4 billion people (Dadax . 2010)

and we get 1.16143e+13 pounds worth of trash in a year and most of this trash

go to landfills and the ocean. A good example of just how bad out trash output

is, is the Great pacific garbage patch which pans twice as big as the state of

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texas which is approximately ​695,662 km² and 14 times the size of mindanao

which is approximately 97,530 km².

It’s no longer a question whether or not we should participate in proper waste

segregation or a zero waste lifestyle the earth will eventually reach its

maximum tolerance and if we continue to ignore this problem the entire

ecosystem will be altered/destroyed which will ultimately lead to mass

extinction.

2.2 Cognitive Biases

Cognitive Biases will play a huge role in the direction of this study

since by definition it literally means an error in thinking or decision making.

Humans do a lot of decision making and this decisions are governed by past

experiences and instincts. Past experiences provides the brain with logical

probable outcomes of similar events which helps us choose a direction in

which we will partake usually between two options. Cognitive Biases happen

when the brain is not given time to prepare for a logical decision as a result it

simplifies the situation and usually makes poor judgement. This study will

make use of this errors or instinctive decisions to influence the activities of

everyday citizens or in this case indirectly making them voluntarily participate

in proper waste segregation.

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2.2.a Implicit Bias

Implicit Bias simple means the unconscious bias of an intellectual.

Unlike cognitive bias implicit bias happens without our awareness and

according to Dushaw Hockett (2017) what makes an implicit bias is it’s

deviation from our pre established principles. It contrasts our moral beliefs and

understanding. In an article by Jules Holroyd (2014) multiple reasons affect

the occurrence of this phenomenon and a few of which is “operation without

the guidance of a proximal goal, substantial cognitive resources and operation

with very limited time”. This means that associations to external factors

influences judgement which leads to deviation in norm and rationality. In a

way though implicit bias is associated with the unconscious, being aware of

certain things seems to be one of the causes that our judgements is

unconsciously biased. In our design it deliberately causes a shift in attention

and awareness, this way it induces a somewhat unconscious or uncontrolled

participation in proper waste segregation. The approach does not fully belong

to the characteristics of an implicit bias since the design does not induce a

fully unconscious state of behaviour the samples are still well aware of their

actions however there is a deviation in attention and awareness that is similar

as to what causes an implicit bias.

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2.2.b C.B.M. (Cognitive Bias modification)

Cognitive bias modification is a process of modifying cognitive biases

of individuals, this means that cognitive biases can be trained or modified to

act as a way/medium in changing how individuals behave as stated by Charles

Swenson (2015). One application CBM is ​using it as a form therapy for

mentally ill patients such as people with anxiety and social disorders. The idea

of cognitive bias modification as a means to help treat patients with such

disorders is to modify a type of cognitive bias called the attention bias. As the

name suggests it focuses on the attention and appraisal of an individual.

People with mental disorders tend to perceive things binarily. Binary thinking

is when the brain refuses to see the whole picture of a situation and instead of

understanding every detail and underlying factors that lead to an event the

brain will only provide two contradicting ideas, one which is true and

otherwise. What C.B.M. hopes to correct is this attention/interpretative bias. It

does this by challenging the individuals claim or appraisal. People in anxiety

are out sync in reality and by giving them a chance to re evaluate things and

their environment that binary thinking is dissolved since the brain is purposely

made to provide more answers for a given problem. The idea hear is that there

is no absolute truth, there is lot of them but differing in perspective. In other

words C.B.M. therapy helps treat anxiety disorders by shifting an individual's

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appraisal from a mentally straining thought to a more neutral understanding of

a situation.

2.2.c Biases between Sex

In a study by Yomar Bar-Tal and Maria Jarymowicz they found out

that Men tend to use more cognitive biases compared to women. For their

study they conducted three experiments to get their results the first study was

all about their first impression from individuals the samples just met second

where the samples are asked to describes themselves then lastly patients were

asked to rate the intensity of their illnesses. Their results indicate the women

tend to react more on objective characterics of a stimuli while men react more

on pertinent existing schema. However multiple studies indicate that the

results are equivocal. Some studies shows no difference while some are quite

opposite. This may be due to the differences in their methods from the study

by Yomar and Maria. Specifically these studies used outcomes to assess the

judgment of their samples. The greater the discrepancy of their judgment from

the given criteria the more biased their judgement is. “And that their accuracy

of judgement may be related to different skills or motivations rather than

distortion in reality or biases”.

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2.3 Bandwagon effect

The bandwagon effect. Commonly used in Poll elections and

marketing strategies. Though there is substantial evidence to conclude that the

bandwagon effect is present among all thinking beings. It is still under further

investigation, nonetheless there is still a widespread use of this cognitive bias

in multiple decision making activities. Among the studies about bandwagon

and consensus decision making, most researchers in one way or another

mentions that humans desire to be one with the group ( Harvey Leibenstein

,1950). He describes that individuals feels better or are more assured and

comfortable when following a certain consensus or just simply being one with

the majority. This becomes more frequent as individuals without prior

knowledge on a certain project tends to favor the majority. They make others

opinions as basis and sometimes make it as if one of their own (Tyler, 1984).

In addition the use of bandwagon effect is found to be more effective in a

social standing than in a personal level, meaning it greatly influence

individuals when the activity requires the participation of multiple people

rather than a just self interested activity (Davison, 1983).

In an experiment by Jhon Dyer (2007), he found out that in a group

activity composed of multiple naive or uninformed and informed individuals

where they are told to walk around randomly in an enclosed space to group up

with the people without communicating. It only takes at least 5% of the

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population in order to influence the flow and behaviour of the majority. The

informed individuals were given different protocols and the greater frequency

of the same protocol usually gains the favor of the majority or the naive

individuals.

The Bandwagon effect also works in the opposite situation. Even

though individuals are aware of the right answers most of them end up making

the wrong ones because of the influence of a select majority purposely told to

make wrong decisions. In Asch’s (1951) experiments. Individuals were given

the task to told to draw a line out of a reference line. The experiment

showed that in the presence of a confederate majority, 38% of the time the

remaining individuals made the same mistake. On the other hand under normal

conditions the individuals were only wrong 1% of the time.

2.4 Anchoring bias

Anchoring bias is the use of first hand information in heuristics or

decision making. This is the opposite of having or relying on a

complete/substantial amount information for a certain subject in order to make

a decision. The information does not have a specific kind of form it can be an

image, a feeling, words and etc. Any kind of information can be a factor of

anchoring bias. This is especially common in negotiations and investments. A

seller always set an initial price for a certain product. That initial price point is

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most likely to become the basis for further negotiations. Sometimes this initial

price point clouds the judgement of buyer and ends up neglecting the overall

condition and function of the product just because the seller ends up selling it

for half the initial price.

Kahneman and Tversky (1974) conducted a study entitled Judgment

under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases it talked about how people under

new concepts base their understanding or perceptions on the first information

they get from sources be it as a question, patterns, a random number, or etc.

One of this experiments individuals were asked whether the percentage of

african countries in the U.N. membership is greater or lower from a number on

a number wheel. The results were skewed. When the number on the wheel was

higher the average answers of the individuals where higher specifically at 10

the average was 20% at 60 the average was 45%.

This goes to show that the brain even with lacking information will

find ways to base its decision unto something even if that information is

completely out of context. Though it may come in handy for certain situations,

most of the time it limits the brain's ability to deduce a rational judgement out

of multiple sources. It become too reliant on an information and it judgement

become skewed and irrational.

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2.5 Hawthorne effect

The Hawthorne effect, also known as the observer effect, is a type of

reactivity in which an individual changes aspects of their behaviour in

response to their awareness of being observed. The term is often used to

suggest that individuals may change their behavior due to the attention they

are receiving from researchers rather than because of any manipulation of

independent variables​.

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 Chapter 3

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Figure 1: Flow Chart of Garbage bin setup

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3.1 Materials

The frame of the trash bin will be made of ¼-inch Plywood, the

researchers will need 8x4 feet of plywood to accommodate 1 unit of their bin

design. For the framework of the bin design, it will be requiring 6 pieces of

*dimension of wood stick* wood sticks. To easily apply the bandwagon

effect, the design needs a transparent panel. The required amount is *amount*

of 3 by 3 feet ⅛ transparent solid plastic sheet (specify what type). To color

code the bins, they will painted red, green, and yellow with *type of paint*.

To finish the setup, one surveillance camera (xiaomi xiao fang) 1080p will be

placed at an angle that will show a wide vision on the sampling site. The

power source of the camera will be from a 20000 mah powerbank via usb

cable. There is an extra allowance of power for the camera so that if the

researchers require more time of observation, they can extend the period of

observation over the experiment. To store data, the camera will be inserted

with a 64 gigabyte sd card. The micro secure digital card can hold a video of

around 21 hours and 20 minutes at 1080p ;30 frames per second.

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3.2 Procedure

After obtaining the approval of Libertad Central Elementary School

The trash bins will be placed in a visible area in the school grounds where

students usually pass by. It will be placed preferably in a roofed area to avoid

getting water in the bin when it rains. Each day the bins will be cleaned and

emptied The design of the garbage bin will be a single bin with 3 divisions.

These divisions will be the non-biodegradable, biodegradable, and recyclable.

The dimension of the bin will be 3ft. x 3ft. x 1ft. The sides, bottom, and back

of the bin will be covered with wood while the front will be covered with thick

clear plastic. The top of the bin will be open with 3 wooden dividers .

Finally the samples will be monitored through a surveillance camera

which will run for at least 14 hours starting from 4am to 6pm. These cameras

will be designed to withstand the average rainfall and in total the duration of

the experiment will last for 1 month considering that 1 week is given to

observe the samples per design.

3.2.a Garbage bin Design/variation

For the experiment, 3 different designs were studied, each one taking

advantage of one form of cognitive bias. First will be the Pre filled Garbage

bins (Bandwagon effect) : The bins will be half filled with trash associated

with its label and In order to maximize the chances of the samples noticing the

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pre filled bins it will be wrapped with stickers relating to its designated label

For the second week of the experiment the use of Illustrations and signs

(Direct approach/ Anchoring bias) will be studied: huge signs will be placed

near the bins in order to alert or inform the samples to follow proper waste

segregation. In addition illustrations or real life examples of trash will be

placed around the trash bin. Lastly the bin with a visible “Dummy” camera (

Hawthorne effect) : The bins will be designed like any other trash bins but a

camera that is intentionally visible to the samples will be placed directly near

the garbage bins.

The order of the experiment will follow accordingly as mentioned

above. The bandwagon effect will be first studied so that there is no interval

between the anchoring bias and hawthorne effect since the two designs share

the same garbage bin design which lacks the transparent front. The hawthorne

was studied last so that the samples will remain unaware for the bandwagon

and anchoring bias experiment, otherwise by doing it first would defeat the

purpose of having a separate experiment for the hawthorne effect since the

samples would be already aware that they are being studied for the next

following designs.

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Figure 2: Dimension for the Base Garbage bin design

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 Chapter 4

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Behaviour of Samples

There were varied observable behaviours present during the duration

of the experiment. It can be categorized to _ parts

● Individuals who don’t care ( No vision of our trash bin designs) or just

throws randomly at very far positions

● Individuals who care but fail to follow

● Uninformed Individuals

● Bandwagon

● Individuals who do follow Proper Waste Segregation

4.2 Data Matrix

4.3 Behaviors and their frequencies

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 Chapter 5

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

5.1 Summary

5.2 Conclusion

5.3 Recomendations

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Appendices

Gantt Chart

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23
 Task Schedule

TASK TASK DESCRIPTION IMMEDIATELY ESTIMATED

CODE PRECEDING DURATION
TASKS (in days)

A SCOUTING OF AREAS FOR CONDUCTING - 6

THE EXPERIMENTS

B PROPOSING OF ACCESS TO FACILITIES A 7

C ARRANGING UP OF EXPERIMENTAL B 30
SETUP

D SURVEILLANCE ON SAMPLES C 4

E GATHERING OF DATA D 4

F ANALYZING OF DATA E 40

Expected Expenses

a. Xiaomi xiao fang camera - 2000

b. Romoss power bank - 1600

c. Trash bin - 1200

d. Memory 32 gb - 1000

e. Dummy camera - 130

f. Waterproofing - 600

g. Fastener and adhesives - 500

Total Budget = 7,030

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References:

● Torres, J. (August 9,2017). Improper Waste Disposal has Dangerous

Effects. Retrieved September 27, 2018 from
https://www.junk-king.com/locations/marin/2017/08/09/improper-waste
-disposal-has-dangerous-effects/

● Dubey,B. (Jan 13, 2018). For effective waste disposal, segregation is

the key. Retrieved September 27, 2018 from
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/for-effe
ctive-waste-disposal-segregation-is-the-key/articleshow/62490740.cm
s in India

● Eikeland, J. (July 8, 2015). What energy shortage. Retrieved

September 28, 2018 from
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-netwo
rk/2015/jul/08/what-energy-shortage

● Holroyd, J. (2015). Implicit bias, awareness and imperfect cognitions.

Consciousness and Cognition,33, 511-523.
doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2014.08.024

● DBT Strategies: Cognitive Modification [Video file]. (2015, September

3). Retrieved September 27, 2018, from https://youtu.be/lmVFPjR8d8c

● We all have implicit biases. So what can we do about it? [Video file].
(2017, September 18). Retrieved September 27, 2018, from
https://youtu.be/kKHSJHkPeLY

● Municipal Solid Waste. (2016, March 30). Retrieved September 27,

2018, from
https://archive.epa.gov/epawaste/nonhaz/municipal/web/html/

● Current World Population. (2010). Retrieved September 27, 2018,

from http://www.worldometers.info/about/

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 ● Bar-Tal, Y., & Jarymowicz, M. (2010). The Effect of Gender on
Cognitive Structuring: Who are More Biased, Men or Women? 80-87.
doi:doi:10.4326/psych.2010.12011

https://www.getrealphilippines.com/2011/08/why-is-it-so-hard-for-filipinos-to-ju
st-obey-the-law/

https://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2018/06/motivation

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/family-affair/200809/rewards-are-b
etter-punishment-here-s-why

https://hbr.org/2017/09/what-motivates-employees-more-rewards-or-punishm
ents

https://www.nature.com/articles/srep36056

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