household management research paper

• Research article
• Open access
• Published: 05 January 2022

Household solid waste management practices and perceptions among residents in the East Coast of Malaysia

• Widad Fadhullah   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-4652-0661 1 , 2 ,
• Nor Iffah Najwa Imran 1 ,
• Sharifah Norkhadijah Syed Ismail 3 ,
• Mohd Hafiidz Jaafar 2 &
• Hasmah Abdullah 1 , 4  

BMC Public Health volume  22 , Article number:  1 ( 2022 ) Cite this article

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Poor waste disposal practices hamper the progress towards an integrated solid waste management in households. Knowledge of current practices and perception of household solid waste management is necessary for accurate decision making in the move towards a more sustainable approach. This study investigates the household waste practices and perceptions about waste management in Panji, one of the sub-districts in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia.

A stratified random sampling technique using a cross-sectional survey questionnaire was used to collect data. A total of 338 households were interviewed in the survey and data were analyzed using SPSS. Chi-square goodness of fit test was used to determine the relationships between categorical variables, whereas Chi-square bivariate correlation test was performed to observe the correlation between the perceptions of waste segregation with socio-demographic background of the respondents. The correlation between perception of respondents with the locality, house type and waste type were also conducted. Principal component analysis was used to identify grouping of variables and to establish which factors were interrelated in any given construct.

The results of the study revealed that 74.3 % of households disposed of food debris as waste and 18.3% disposed of plastic materials as waste. The study also showed that 50.3% of the households segregate their waste while 49.7% did not. About 95.9% of the respondents were aware that improper waste management leads to disease; such as diarrhea and malaria. There were associations between locality, age and house type with waste segregation practices among respondents (Chi-square test, p<0.05). Associations were also found between locality with the perception of improper waste management which lead to disease (Chi-square test, p<0.05). Principal Component Analysis showed that 17.94% of the variance has high positive loading (positive relationship) with age, marital status and, type of house.

This study highlights the importance to design waste separation programs that suit the needs of targeted population as a boost towards sustainable solid waste management practices.

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Solid waste management (SWM) in the majority of developing countries including Malaysia is dominated by open dumping due to lower capital, operational and maintenance cost in comparison with another disposal method [ 47 ]. This non-sanitary and non-engineered approach are without appropriate liners, gas collection and leachate collection and treatment, thereby exposing the surrounding environment with multiple air, water and soil pollution issues [ 15 , 23 ]. The effects of the ineffective management of household solid waste on public health (Fig. 1 ) can be separated into physical, biological, non-communicable diseases, psychosocial and ergonomics health risks [ 6 , 51 , 77 ]. Contaminated soil, air and water provide breeding ground to biological vectors such as flies, rodents and insects pests. Many diseases are sequentially caused by these biological vectors, such as diarrhoea, dysentery, gastrointestinal problems, worm infection, food poisoning, dengue fever, cholera, leptospirosis and bacterial infection; irritation of the skin, nose and eyes; as well as respiratory symptoms [ 25 , 41 , 42 , 52 ]. Exposure to gases generated by landfill waste such as methane, carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide can produce inflammation and bronchoconstriction and can affect the immune cell. Hydrogen chloride and hydrogen fluoride released from the waste if deposited in the respiratory system, may cause cough, chest tightness and breathlessness [ 21 ].

Effect of ineffective household solid waste management on public health

Another category of health effects that can be closely related to household solid waste management is non-communicable diseases. Some studies estimated that the pollutions from the dumpsite might cause cancers (e.g. liver, pancreas, kidney, larynx) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma [ 8 , 31 , 51 ]. Other health effects under this category worth mentioning are birth defects, preterm babies, congenital disorders and Down’s syndrome [ 51 , 52 ]. Apart from physical and biological effects, inefficient household waste management can lead to psychosocial effects such as disturbing odour, unsightly waste, and thinking, cognitive and stress-related problems [ 6 , 51 , 52 , 74 , 77 ]. Ergonomics is the final category of related health effects that is worth mentioning specifically for the working community of household waste management (Fig. 1 ). The risk of ergonomic issues is related to body posture, repetitive movement and excessive force movement [ 6 ].

Majority of the solid waste generated in Malaysia composed of organic waste with high moisture content [ 43 ], hence, the handling and waste separation at source is the most critical step in waste management [ 62 ]. The increasing amount of waste generated annually is also intensified by lack of land for disposing waste, questioning the sustainability of the current municipal solid waste (MSW) practices of using landfills [ 46 ]. Nevertheless, the lack of success in public participation to manage the solid waste is primarily rooted by the NIMBY (not in my backyard) attitude and the public perception that solid waste is a local municipal problem is highly prevalent among Malaysians [ 3 ]. Thus, most of the existing waste segregation practices by waste-pickers are mostly done in the informal sector as means of livelihood for the poor and additional source of income. On the other hand, this practice causes serious health problems, aggravating the socio-economic situation [ 10 ].

In Kelantan, the common practice of waste disposal in rural and remote areas is by burying and burning of waste (Kamaruddin et al. 2016) while in urban or semi-urban areas, stationary waste storage containers are provided mainly at the sides of the main road. Kota Bharu Municipal Council (KBMC) is the local authority responsible in providing stationary waste storage container at collection site of waste within Kota Bharu district, collecting the solid waste approximately 3 times a week by compactor vehicles and transporting waste to the dumpsite located in Beris Lalang, Bachok [ 27 ]. However, the flaws of SWM in Kelantan lies primarily in inadequate bin and waste collection provided by local authorities, KBMC mainly constrained by financial issues (Rahim et al 2012). House to house waste collection is also hard to be implemented owing to narrow lanes and alleys which are mostly inaccessible [ 61 ] due to the development practice and geographical area in the state. Therefore, the locals’ resort to burying and burning their wastes within their house compound which has always been the practice since decades ago.

Household waste is one of the primary sources of MSW comprising of food wastes, paper, plastic, rags, metal and glasses from residential areas. Household waste is among the solid wastes managed by KBMC in Kota Bharu covering 15 sub-districts including Panji. Panji has the highest population compared to the other sub-district; therefore, assessment of household SWM among the residents is important to address their awareness and practices for planning an effective form of SWM. Some of the key factors influencing the effectiveness of SWM is by considering the size of the family, their income [ 67 ], level of education [ 19 ] and the location of household [ 1 ]. This factor is also supported by Shigeru [ 66 ] that the characteristics of households determine their recycling behavior and that sociodemographic conditions vary across municipalities. Socio-economic status and housing characteristics also affect the amount of municipal waste and how they manage it [ 20 ]. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the characteristics and needs of various households in designing a suitable waste management program.

Efficient SWM system is now a global concern which requires a sustainable SWM primarily in the developing countries. This study is another effort in gearing towards sustainable waste management practices in Malaysia which is also in line with the United Nation Sustainable Development Goals encompassing SDG3 Good Health and Wellbeing and SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production. So far, limited studies were reported in the East Coast of Malaysia, particularly in Kelantan on waste management practices at the household level [ 61 ] which is highly required to improve the current practices including finding the prospect of whether proper at source-sorting in households is feasible to be implemented. This study provides a case study in Panji, Kota Bharu concerning the current household characteristics and awareness of managing household solid waste in Kelantan. The findings are crucial for the waste authorities in the process of designing and providing an effective and specific action plan in the area.

Figure 2 shows the percentage of households by garbage collection facilities and median monthly household income (MYR) for the districts in Kelantan. Kota Bharu is the district with the highest median monthly household gross income and percentage of garbage collection facilities. Apart from Lojing, which is located in the highlands, Bachok, Tumpat and Pasir Puteh are the districts with the lowest percentage of garbage collection facilities within 100m of the households. Meanwhile, Bachok (34.9%), Pasir Mas (36.6%), and Pasir Puteh (38%) households are without garbage collection facilities. The figure described the problem with household solid waste management in Kelantan. The major issues contributing to the problem are due to insufficient financial resources, lack of human labor, and transportation [ 61 ]. In one of the rural area in Kelantan, it was found that the solid waste management is considered inefficient due to a lack of knowledge in proper waste handling and the importance of segregating waste properly as proper waste handling start at home (Abas et al. 2020).

Percentage of households by garbage collection facilities and median monthly household income (MYR) for the districts in Kelantan

Household SWM is not a new issue, thus, published studies were found using survey and questionnaires and fieldwork studies. Waste characterization process was carried out by Kamaruddin et al. (2016) in 4 landfills in Kelantan. Nevertheless, they did not cover household waste knowledge, attitude and practices. Abdullah et al. [ 1 ] surveyed the household’s awareness on privatization of solid waste management and their satisfaction of the services offered but did not cover the health implications. Saat et al. [ 61 ] surveyed the practices and attitude on household waste management with a small sample size of less than 30 which limits its applicability to other region. Our study aimed to improve these previous studies by covering a wider sample size from the largest sub-district in Kelantan, Malaysia. The objective of this study is to assess the household SWM practices and perceptions among the residents of Panji vicinity in Kota Bharu district, Kelantan. Specifically, the objectives are to assess household SWM practices and perceptions in the Panji sub-district, to determine the association between socio-demographic characteristics or other factors and practices in SWM at the household level and to determine the association between socio-demographic characteristics or other factors and perceptions in SWM at household level.

This study was conducted in Panji, Kota Bharu district, Kelantan, Malaysia (Fig. 3 ), located at the east cost of Peninsular Malaysia and has the highest population among the 15 sub-districts of Kota Bharu, the capital state of Kelantan. A total of 338 respondents were recruited in this study. The population of interest in this study involved residents in Kota Bharu district and considered only residents who have attained 18 years old and above. Sample unit is residents living in Kota Bharu district of more than a year and aged more than 18 years. The target population comprised all the households in Kota Bharu District (491,237); however, it is impossible to conduct a study with such a large number within a limited time period and inadequate financial budget. Therefore, a multi- stage random sampling technique was used in selecting the appropriate sample in order to evaluate the objectives of this study and to ensure that households in the districts had the same possibility of being included in the study (Dlamini et al., 2017). Initially, one district of Kelantan state (Kota Bharu) was selected out of 10 total districts. In the second stage, one sub-district of Kota Bharu District (Panji) was selected out of 15 total sub-districts. Eventually, 338 households were randomly selected as sample size. Convenient sampling was also used to select respondents due to time constraint and response obtained from target population. The localities involved were Kampung Tapang, Kampung Chempaka, Kampung Belukar, Kampung Panji, Taman Sri Iman, Taman Desa Kujid and Taman Bendahara.

Location of the study area in Panji, Kota Bharu district, Kelantan, Malaysia (Source:ArcGis Software version 10.2; source of shape file: Department of Drainage and Irrigation, obtained with consent)

Data collection

A survey was conducted from January to May 2018. The questionnaire was translated from English to Malay language and the translation was done back to back and validated by experts in environmental science and public health field. A pilot test was conducted with a small sample size of ~30 to determine the suitability of the items in the questionnaire and the time taken by respondents to complete the questionnaires (Dlamini et al. 2017). Respondents were interviewed based on a questionnaire adopted and modified from Asante et al. [ 9 ]. The questionnaire involved two phases; the first one was to determine the socio-demographic of the respondents, including gender, age, types of housing, religion, educational level, occupation and the number of occupants in the household. Part two was an assessment to determine the status of household management of solid waste. The questionnaire included both open and closed questions (Dlamini et al. 2017). The closed questions were designed for ease of answering by the respondents with the aim of collecting the maximum appropriate responses, whereas the open questions are intended to encourage respondents to provide further elaboration on certain questions. The reliability of Cronbach’s alpha test of this questionnaire was found to be acceptable (α=0.71). Ethical approval for this study was obtained from the Ethic Committee of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM/JEPeM/17100560).

Data analysis

Data were analyzed using IBM Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 24.0. Descriptive analyses were used to report the frequency and percentage of socio-demographic patterns, method of household waste disposal and perceptions of household toward waste management. Chi-square goodness of fit test was used to determine the relationships between categorical variables, which allow us to test whether the observed proportions for a categorical variable differ from the hypothesized proportions [ 24 ]. The null hypothesis of the Chi-Square test is that no relationship exists on the categorical variables in the population; they are independent. Chi-square bivariate correlation test was performed to observe the correlation between the perceptions of waste segregation with socio-demographic background of the respondents [ 29 ]. The correlation between perception of respondents with the locality, house type and waste type were also conducted. Principal component analysis (PCA) was conducted to identify grouping of variables and to establish which factors were interrelated in any given construct, where a set of highly inter-correlated measured variables were grouped into distinct factors [ 24 ]. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkim (KMO) Measure of Sampling Adequacy and Bartlett's Test of Sphericity was performed to evaluate the data's suitability for exploratory factor analysis [ 69 ].

Socio-demographic Characteristics and Respondents Background in Panji sub-district

We first report descriptive statistics for all variables before discussing results from correlation analysis of socio-demographic factors and respondent’s background with household solid waste management (SWM) practices and perceptions. We then present the Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Table 1 represents the socio-demographic background and characteristics of the respondents in this study. Most of the respondents are from Kg. Belukar (N=125, 37%), followed by Kg. Panji (N=61, 18%), the rest are from Kg. Tapang (N=33), Kg. Chempaka, Taman Desa Kujid, Taman Sri Iman (N=30, respectively) and from Taman Bendahara (N=29). Majority of the respondents are female (N=182, 53.8%) and age between 35 to 49 years old (N=91, 26.9%). Most of the respondents have completed secondary education (N=194, 57.4%) and 31.1% have completed their degree or diploma (N=105). Majority of the respondents are married (75.7%), Muslim (97%) and earned between MYR 1000 to 2000 per month. About 32% of the respondents are self-employed and lived in a bungalow house type (30.5%). Most of the household consist of 4 to 6 occupants (53.6%). Majority of them cook at home (91.4%) on daily basis (68.6%). The Chi-square test shows that there is a significant difference among all categorical variables except for gender (χ 2 = 2.000, p = 0.157).

Proportion of Household Solid Waste Disposed by respondents in Panji Sub-District

Figure 4 represents the type of waste disposed of by respondents in the study. More than half (74.38%) of the waste disposed by household is food debris, followed by plastic waste (19.01%) and bottles (5.79%) while the rest accounts for 0.83%.

Types of waste disposed by household in Panji district

Household SWM practices and perceptions among respondents in Panji sub-district

Table 2 shows the household waste management practices and perceptions among respondents in Panji district. In terms of the household SWM practices, about 170 of the respondents (50.3%) segregate their waste at home while the remaining 168 respondents (49.7%) did not practice waste segregation at home. There is no significant difference between those who segregate waste at home and those who don’t (χ 2 =0.12, p=0.91). As shown in Fig. 1 and Table 2 , the major type of waste disposed by respondents are food (N=251, 74.3%). A significant difference was found among the different type of waste disposed (χ 2 =656.56, p<0.001). Out of the 338 respondents interviewed, 75.4% of the respondent themselves normally carries their household waste to the allocated bin or waste collection point provided by the local authority. Majority of the respondents (323 respondents) agree that the waste disposal site provided by the local authorities were appropriate (95.6%) relative to 15 respondents who disagree (4.4%). A significant difference was found between those who responded that appropriate waste disposal site was provided and those who do not (χ2=280.66, p<0.001).

Most of them also have the perception that proper waste management is important (99.7%). More than half (62.4%) of the respondent agrees that it is their responsibility to clean the waste in their residential area while 24.3% suggested that it is the responsibility of the district council. Another 3.3% suggested it is the responsibility of the community members followed by private waste operators (1.5%). The majority (95.9%) of the respondents suggested poor waste management can contribute to disease occurrence, whereas 2.7% suggested it does not cause diseases and another 1.5% were unsure if it causes any diseases.

In terms of the household SWM perceptions, 40.8% of the respondents have responded that other diseases than diarrhea, malaria and typhoid are related to improper waste management. This is followed by diarrhea (30.5%) and malaria (21.9%). Majority of the participants responded that they have awareness on proper waste management (92.9%) and 81.4% responded that cleanliness is the main factor which motivates them to dispose the waste properly. The chi-square test shows that all variables under respondents’ perception differ significantly from the hypothesized values (Table 2 ).

Relationship between socio-demographic characteristics, respondent’s background and household SWM practices (waste segregation practices)

Chi square analysis was performed to find out what factors contribute to waste segregation practices among the respondents (Table 3 ). Results indicate that waste segregation practice was correlated with the locality (χ 2 = 43.35, p<0.001). For instance, out of 29 respondents in Taman Bendahara, all of them segregate their waste (100%). This trend was also observed for Taman Desa Kujid where most of the respondents segregate their waste (22 out of 30, 73.3%). In contrast, most of respondents from the village, did not segregate their waste. For example, out of 125 total number of respondents in Kg Belukar, 53 of them segregates their waste (42.4%) while 72 of them did not (57.6%).

A significant correlation was found between waste segregation practice and age (χ 2 =11.62, p<0.001). Based on the age range of the total number of respondents, respondents at the age of 50-65 years old are those who segregated more than the rest (N=43) and those at the age of 35-49 are those who did not segregate their waste the most (N=52 in Table 3 ). The type of house was significantly correlated with waste segregation practice (χ 2 =12.73, p=0.03). The respondents who live in bungalow houses are those who segregate the most (N=58). Those who live in semi-detached houses also have more respondents (N=24) segregating their waste than those who did not (N=13). Meanwhile those who live in other type of houses, terrace, village and others have more respondents who did not segregate their waste (Table 3 ). Other variables, gender, education level, marital status, monthly income, occupation, the number of persons per household and the practice of cooking at home did not show any significant correlation with waste segregation practice (p>0.05, Table 3 ).

Relationship between respondent’s background and household SWM practices (the type of waste disposed) from the household in Panji sub-district

The chi-square test was also conducted to determine the relationship between socio-demographic characteristics, respondent’s background and the type of waste disposed. There is a significant correlation between locality with the waste type disposed in Panji district (Table 4 ). All localities showed that food waste was the major type of waste being disposed of from the households. A significant correlation was also found between respondents living in different house types with type of waste disposed. Most of the respondents who live in bungalows (N = 81) and other type of house (N = 78) disposed of food as the main waste from their households. Other characteristics were not significantly correlated with type of waste.

Correlation between respondents’ background (locality and/ or house type) and the perception in household SWM (appropriate site of household waste disposal provided by the local council and improper waste management contribute to disease occurrence)

Correlation analysis was also performed to determine what factors contribute towards the perception of household SWM in Panji district. No significant correlation was found between different locality with the appropriate waste disposal site provided (p = 0.152) as most of the locality has an appropriate disposal site (Table 5 ). There was also no significant relationship between type of house with appropriate disposal site provided by the local council (p=0.131). On the other hand, significant correlation was found between locality and the respondent’s perceptions on improper waste management which contribute to disease occurrence (p=0.042). Out of all localities, majority of the respondents from Kg Belukar has the perception that improper waste management contributes to disease occurrence (Table 5 ).

Principal component analysis (PCA)

Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is a dimension-reduction tool that can be used to reduce a large set of variables to a small set that still contains most of the information in the original large set [ 24 ]. It converts a set of observations of possibly correlated variables (entities each of which takes on various numerical values) into a set of values of linearly uncorrelated variables called principal components [ 37 ]. This transformation is defined in such a way that the first principal component has the largest possible variance (that is, accounts for as much of the variability in the data as possible), and each succeeding component in turn has the highest variance possible under the constraint that it is orthogonal to the preceding components.

PCA in this study was performed to determine the variables that influence or related to waste segregation behavior among respondents. Table 6 highlight the PCA analysis to illustrate the component factors that influence waste segregation behavior among respondents in this study. Only 13 significant variables were highlighted in the table with the factor loading of more than 0.5. Only factor loadings value >0.5 are considered for selection and interpretation due to having significant factor loadings influence the acceptable KMO value that represent a significant correlation for the PCA model in the study. The PCA generates four principal components that represent 48.26% of the total variance in the variables dataset and produced an acceptable KMO value of 0.603 (more than 0.5). Bartlett’s test of sphericity showed that PCA could be applied to the data at the p< 0.001 level. This approved that the data met the requirements for factor analysis [ 24 , 69 ].

The component matrix produced in PCA showed that PC1 represents 17.94% of the variance with high positive loading (positive relationship) on age, marital status and, type of house (Table 6 ). This pattern indicates that age, married and type of house were the group that segregates their waste the most. This group of community can be proposed as the target to actively participate in waste management practices within the district. In contrast, locality and education have negative loading or negative relationship with the segregation activity. As a result, policy makers should increase educational activities on proper household waste practices and management related issues to minimize both the environmental and health impacts of household waste practices among the population.

PC2 represents 10.93% of the variance with high loadings on cooking at home and cooking frequency. This pattern implies that those who cook at home and frequently cook were among the most respondents who practice waste segregation. However, no consequences can be drawn about individual factors as these may have the opposite relationship to the observed factor in other components. Similar trend was observed for PC3 whereby 9.96% of the data variance has high loading on the perception of the respondents towards waste management. High loading was observed on perception that improper waste management contributes to disease occurrence and the cleanliness is the main element that motivates them to segregate. PC3 has high negative loading with monthly income. This result suggests that respondents with low income are those who segregate more.

Meanwhile, PC4 represents 9.42% of the data variance. Variables that have high positive loadings were the respondents who brought the waste to the communal bin themselves, indicating that this group of respondents are those who segregate more. High positive loading was also found on the perception that residents are among those responsible for cleaning the residential area. The number of persons living in a household has negative loading in PC4, indicating that the higher the number of people lives in the household, the lesser chances of them to segregate the waste.

Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.

a 4 components extracted.

b Only cases for which Practice of waste segregation = Yes are used in the analysis phase.

This study explores the behavioral perspective in view that the way people manage waste is associated with their attitude and perception. Individual perception is governed by their background and present situation, shaped by values, moods, socials circumstances and individual expectation (Kaoje et al 2017). The results of this study are discussed from three aspects: (1) characterization of household solid waste management practices and perceptions among respondents (2) correlation between socioeconomic and respondent’s background with waste segregation practices and (3) correlation between socioeconomic and respondent’s background with household waste management perceptions. One of the primary intentions of acquiring the respondent’s characteristics was to understand the correlation between level of involvement in household SWM practices and the characteristics of the respondents.

Food waste was found as the major type of waste disposed by the communities in Panji sub-district (Fig. 1 and Table 2 ). Food waste has high moisture content and causes smell, which subsequently attracts disease vectors, such as flies, mosquitoes and cockroaches, and the proliferation of rodents, such as rats and mice, which pose threats to public health [ 68 , 75 ]. Majority of the respondents were found to cook at home (N=309, 91.4%) and cook on a daily basis (N=232, 68.6%; Table 1 ) which suggests that composting should be incorporated as one of the main approaches for proper waste management practices in the community. Individual compost bin should be provided in each household coupled with adequate training on simple compost technique can be organized within the locality as a stage by stage process. Alternatively, community scale composting can be proposed to focus solely on food waste management which is currently a growing practice among Malaysians [ 38 , 56 ]. This approach is gaining attention because of their lower energy footprint, ease of operation, need for lesser resources, lower operation and maintenance costs which have higher chances of public acceptance [ 32 ]. Food waste is organic waste which can decomposed and degraded into organic matter [ 33 ], which in turn can be used by the public to fertilize their garden soil. Most importantly, the training should emphasize on the practicality and feasible option of composting which is otherwise seen as a time-consuming and burdensome process [ 33 ].

Composting is beneficial to the environment by reducing greenhouse gases emissions and improvement of soil quality when applied to land. Furthermore, it is also in line with the circular economy concept by closing the loop of the system [ 14 ]. On the other hand, there are issues pertaining to its quality such as the nutrient and trace metal content. So, sorting the waste at source play a crucial role in minimising these impurities and collection systems play a fundamental role in removing some pollutants from wastes, especially organic fraction of municipal solid wastes, and improving compost quality [ 13 ]. One way to overcome this is by accommodating the waste collection and composting facilities with easy and convenient measurement of these contents which may be accessible by the community. Community composting programs should incorporate not only the step-by-step procedure of how to do composting but at the same time introducing easy to use kit or techniques applicable to the public and community such as test strip to measure the nutrients and trace metal [ 11 ]. In addition, by adding composting accelerators, the nutritional quality of the compost can be overcome. This factor can be done by developing a manual for public use.

The case of local composting at homes reduces transportation and collection cost by decreasing the amount of domestic waste carried to centralized composting facilities [ 76 ]. At the same time, household waste contains impurities and are widely distributed which hinders the efficiency of centralized composting facilities in disposing them. Centralized composting facilities in Asia suffer from low compost quality and poor sales [ 32 ]. As a result, community composting system at a smaller scale is more convenient within this region.

Composting is linked to diseases such as Aspergillosis, Legionnaire’s disease, histoplasmosis, paronychia and tetanus. In the case of Aspergillosis and Legionnaire’s disease, it may cause higher potential risk in large scale composting facilities compared to the smaller scale composting at home due to massive handling and agitating process in the former [ 26 , 59 ]. Histoplasmosis have been associated with chicken manure used in composting, however it is not able to survive in a well-done composting process [ 39 ]. Therefore, disease spread can be minimised by having local composting at homes and community composting system at a smaller scale than centralized composting facility. The most important thing in minimising disease spread would be the practise of wearing gloves and face mask during this composting activity.

In this study, there was not much difference between the respondents who separated their waste and who did not (Table 2 ), which implies there is room for increasing the practice of waste segregation. Waste segregation practice is lacking in developing countries, most prominently in Asia ( [ 15 , 48 ]; Vassanadumrongdee and Kittipongvises 2018) and African continents (Dlamini et al. 2017; Yoada et al. 2014). Since respondents lack adequate knowledge on the critical importance of waste separation at source in general, the volume of municipal solid waste dumped in landfill sites are progressively increasing, thus jeopardizing the remaining landfill space at a faster rate than initially planned. Therefore, to alleviate this environmental problem in the developing countries in general and in Panji sub-districts, specifically, more focused and sustained public awareness programs, integrated with an enabling infrastructure, are required to change residents’ perceptions toward improved waste separation at source rates [ 49 ]. Additionally, the outcome of the waste segregation activities should be similarly emphasized and how waste minimization in the first instance, and waste segregation at source, will benefit and enhance the standard of living or life quality of households ([ 44 ]; Yoada et al. 2014 [ 49 ];).

The perceptions of the respondents towards waste management were generally good. About 99.7% reported that waste management is important, 62.4% report that it is the responsibility of them to manage waste (Table 2 ). Resident’s participation in waste management activities is one of the ways in maximizing the capture of source-segregated materials which can be facilitated by providing an associated infrastructure [ 58 ]. Nevertheless, there are still some respondents who felt that waste management is not their responsibility, but instead lies mainly on the district council, which highlights the general perception of some Malaysians that waste is a local municipal issue [ 46 ]. About 95.9% of the respondents were aware that improper waste management leads to sicknesses or diseases, which implies that most of the households were aware of the health implication of waste. The management of MSW in developing Asian countries is driven by a public health perspective: the collection and disposal of waste in order to avoid the spread of disease vectors from uncollected waste [ 5 ]. The perception of the remaining 2.7% that waste management does not cause disease and 1.5% who were unsure need to be changed by targeting this group as a follow up program focusing on waste management and health issues. The respondents also have adequate level of awareness and knowledge about proper waste management (92.9%). This high level of awareness is because of several reasons for properly disposing of waste, including cleanliness as the major factor (81.4%), followed by fear of illnesses (12.4%), and odor (6.2%).

Most of the respondents thought that improper waste management could lead to diarrhea and malaria (Table 2 ). Diarrhea and waste management is associated with environmental factors such as waste disposal mechanism. House-to-house waste collection has been shown to decrease the incidence of malaria compared to other waste collection method [ 7 ]. Hence, this implies the possibility of malaria incidence in areas which burn their waste and areas which are inaccessible by any waste collection. Other diseases could be related to typhoid, dysentery, cholera, respiratory infections and injury [ 42 ]. Proper waste management can lead to improvement in the quality of the environment and public health while, mismanagement of waste can be implicated with water, soil and air pollutions [ 1 ], breeding of mosquitos, which in turn, causes disease [ 15 , 68 ]. Although knowledge and awareness are acceptable among the respondents, this perception did not inculcate into waste segregation practices. In order to bridge the gap between awareness and behavior change, it is necessary for individuals to understand the importance of their role in how to do it and why it is important to do so [ 34 ]. More focused, detailed and continuous awareness and knowledge should be emphasized on this aspect specifically in the topics of environmental cleanliness, drainage systems, the recycling process in theory and practice, and a proper way to dispose of wastes [ 61 ].

Our findings have reported that socio-demographic factors (age, marital status) and respondents’ background (locality and house types) have influenced the household waste practices and perceptions in Panji sub-district (Tables 3 , 4 , 5 and 6 ). Age is associated with the maturity of the person which plays a significant factor in impacting their level of awareness on environmental health and sanitation ([ 12 , 17 ]; Meneses and [ 40 , 45 ]). The result of our study is consistent with the findings by Fan et al. [ 22 ] that older individuals prefer to engage more in waste sorting activities than young people in Singapore.

On the other hand, the number of children in the household may be a significant factor that influence waste separation. This for instance has been mentioned in Xu et al., (2017), where the intention of middle-aged adults towards behaving a more eco-friendly system was affected by critical social reference groups around them, such as the interaction with family or the motivation, especially children, and/or the consideration of the health situation of the whole family.

However, in other studies such as in Ittiravivongs [ 28 ] and Vassanadumrongdee & Kittipongvises (2018), socio-demographic variables became insignificant factors that influenced waste segregation participation. Knussen et al., [ 36 ] & White & Hyde [ 73 ] also indicate that the strongest variable influence participation in waste segregation program was past behaviour on regular source separation at home or recycling habit. Having waste separation in the office also could have positive influence on source separation intention, which is consistent with the study of Saphores et al. [ 64 ].

Considering number of children in the analysis is beyond the scope of this paper. Our result indicates that there is no significant difference in the waste segregation practice by the number of occupants in the household (χ 2 = 2.36, p = 0.31). For instance, the results show 54.2% of household with more than 6 occupants practice waste segregation, as compared to those who are not at 45.8%. This would suggest that the number of children in the house could be less influence on the waste segregation practice or vice versa. Future study may consider number of children in the family as one of the variables to be tested to confirm the hypothesis.

It was interesting to note that the types of housing in the case study were found to contribute heavily to the practices and perceptions of household waste management. Respondents who lived in bungalows (30.5%) and other type of houses than semi-detached, terrace and village (28.4%) are most likely to segregate their waste. Bungalows are associated with high income areas in Malaysia [ 53 ], which could be related to waste collection services are provided from these areas and possibly these households subscribe to this service. Potentially, these types of houses also have more space to be allocated for waste sorting than the other type of houses.

Other socio-demographic characteristics such as gender, education level and monthly income did not influence the practices and perceptions of the respondents. There were no significant associations between gender and waste segregation practices (χ 2 =0.596, p=0.440). Our finding is contrasting to the study by Ehrampoush and Moghadam [ 18 ] which reported that gender is likely to have an influence on the perceptions of household SWM. This view is supported by Mukherji et al. [ 48 ] who found that women, because of traditional gender roles associated with their household activities, have a closer engagement with waste management at household level.

The level of education has been reported as an important factor that could influence people’s perception of household waste management [ 40 ]. In this study, most of the respondents received their education until secondary school (57.4%), followed by diploma or degree (31.1%) but this did not influence their household SWM practices and perception (χ 2 =6.188, p=0.19), in particular waste segregation practice (Table 3 ). The poor average income of respondents is considered a very important variable that could influence people’s perception and attitudes negatively on solid waste management system (Parfitt et al. 1994 [ 40 ];). But, this is not the case in our study as economic consideration appears not to play a major role in the respondent’s perception as well as attitude to solid waste management practices (χ 2 =4.55, p=0.47).

The outcome from the PCA analysis showed that age, marital status and type of housing are the factors which contributed the most to waste segregation practices at home. Our finding agrees with the study by Vassanadumrongdee and Kittipongvises (2018) which found that age and family with children have a positive influence on respondent's source separation. Age was also a determinant factor in waste management practices in other studies [ 2 , 15 ]. With aging and married respondents, this could be highly related to the increasing sense of responsibility towards the environment and the importance of increasing the quality of life among household members. Types of housing could be related to either waste collection services were provided in these areas or that limited number of households subscribe to their service. Other studies in the literature have reported on the positive relationship between residence types and waste separation practices ([ 15 ]; Vassanadumrongdee and Kittipongvises 2018).

The high loadings on cooking at home and cooking frequency towards waste segregation practices indicate that these groups of respondents can be chosen for further interventions in terms of adopting proper waste management practices such as small-scale composting, recycling and waste minimization practices. The lifestyle of the respondents plays a significant role in the daily waste disposal practices in households (Yoada et al. 2014 [ 15 ];). The link between improper waste management practice and disease occurrence was also reported in studies in Ghana (Yoada et al. 2014 [ 2 ];). Their studies also reported that cleanliness was the main factor which motivates them to segregate the waste which is concurrent with the findings in this study.

Education is negatively related to waste segregation activity (Table 6 ), indicating that people with lower education are more willing to segregate their waste as compared to those with higher education. The likely reasons could be related to different lifestyle and time constraint to allocate purposely for waste sorting activities [ 15 ]. People with higher education level may be spending most of their time at the workplace, and not at home. However, more educational campaign should be promoted by emphasizing on the benefits of waste segregation activities. Sufficient knowledge, such as clear instructions provided in a communication and collection campaign, can increase the probability of waste separation behavior (Vassanadumrongdee and Kittipongvises S 2018).

The higher number of occupants living in the household is associated with a less likely chance of segregating the waste (Table 6 ). The result of our study is consistent with the study by Addo et al. [ 2 ] which reported that household sizes of 4 to 6 and above 7 were less likely to engage in the practice of waste management as compared to household size below 4 people. This is probably due to the household size tends to reduce the quantity of household waste and the practice of waste management. In contrast, studies by Osbjer et al. [ 54 ], indicate that waste management practice is associated with a higher number of people in the households, which could possibly be due to the need to handle waste generated by larger populations within the household.

One of the objectives of this study was to determine variables that influence waste segregation behavior among respondents. The PCA was adapted for this objective rather than correlation analysis for several reason. The correlation coefficient assumes a linear association where any linear transformation of variables will not affect the correlation. However, variables X and Y may also have a non-linear association, which could still yield a low correlation coefficient [ 30 ]. In addition, the correlation coefficient cannot be interpreted as causal.

It is possible that there is a causal effect of one variable on the other, but there may also be other possible explanations that the correlation coefficient does not take into account. Since several variables may influence respondent’s behavior on waste segregation activity at one time, the correlation coefficient analysis may not adequate to identify the significant variables and the connectivity between them accurately. Therefore, PCA was used to help us understand the connection between these variables as it can identify the correlation among the features efficiently.

There are thousands of features in the dataset that possible to highlight some trend or the influence of one factor to another. There are challenges to visualize the algorithm on all features efficiently especially when the performance of the algorithm may reduce with the bigger dataset. The PCA improve the algorithm performance by getting rid of correlated variables which don't contribute to the model and the analysis of the algorithms reduces significantly with less number of features. The Principal Components are also independent of one another. There is no correlation among them. It also reduces overfitting by reducing the number of features where it mainly occurs when there are too many variables in the dataset.

The scenario of the covid-19 pandemic contributes to a significant challenge in managing household waste management globally and specifically in developing countries. Waste management in the pandemic scenario requires consideration in SARS-CoV-2 transmission through MSW handling that includes survival time of the virus on the surfaces: population density and socioeconomic conditions [ 35 ]. In general, waste management phases (waste packing and delivering by the users; waste withdrawal; waste transport; and waste treatment) exposed the community and workers to direct contact with contaminated objects and surfaces; as well as contact with airborne droplets at a distance that may lead to the covid-19 [ 16 ]. Due to these reasons, waste management practices are designed to respond to the pandemic through changes in the collection system, allocation of treatment options, safety measure and priority separation, and functionality of circular economy strategies [ 72 ].

As a developing country, it is predicted that the effect of covid-19 on the waste management practices are more crucial due to the increase in disposable personal protective equipment at the household level and changes in eating habits, as a consequence of lifestyle disruptions and psychological stress due to lockdowns [ 4 , 55 ]. Developing countries have a higher risk of waste and wastewater contamination, leading to significant public health issues [ 71 ]. Inefficient waste management practices such as insecure landfills, lack of technical knowledge, scientific and economic resources, and lack of waste emergency policies produce severe consequences to the community and workers [ 63 , 65 , 71 ].

In order to improve the level of household solid waste management in the study area and Malaysia in general, it is important to empower the key drivers. The key drivers can be categorized as institutional-administrative, technological, economical, and social drivers [ 70 ]. A strong policy that implements direct regulation and enforcement; provide economic incentives or disincentives; and inform, interact and engage with the community are required [ 60 ].

Household solid waste management technologies that are being practised globally are landfilling, incineration, pyrolysis, Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF), gasification, and anaerobic digestion [ 57 ]. As a developing country that focuses on solid waste management through landfilling, it is important to put extra attention on: i. decentralization of household solid waste management; ii. segregation at the source; iii. hygienic and safe handling; iv. flammable landfilll gasses handling; v. soil salinity from compost application; vi. Sustainable landfill management; vii. alternative markets for energy products; and viii. Implementation of the “pay as you throw” system [ 50 ].

Practical Implications, Study Limitations and Future Perspectives

This study highlights that waste segregation practice among respondents are still low and food waste are mixed with other household waste. This study provides as a baseline data in the region where less study was emphasized.

Quantitative and qualitative approach were used in this study by adopting descriptive and statistical analysis to improve the significance of the issue. Despite the significance of some aspects of this study, further studies should be done to incorporate children and teenagers as the participants and a more detailed questionnaire incorporating detailed health implications. Apart from that, a cross-sectional survey using random sampling technique was used to assess the household SWM practices and perceptions among the residents. This study is also limited to only Panji sub-districts which requires a wider region to generalize the findings of the study. The survey questionnaires depend on self-reporting manner, which may be subject to bias. Further study is recommended to engage observation at houses or at the waste collecting points to complement the survey. Moreover, the association between household socio-economic factors and health implications were limited. Future study should address this factor for a more focused and sustained public awareness programs.

Conclusions

The study found that the waste segregation practice among respondents can be considered as low, where the number of respondents who segregate their waste was equivalent to those who did not, which implies there is room for improvement. The main component of solid waste generated at home was largely food debris that has the potential to be composted and plastics that can be recycled, which were mainly disposed without separation. The local solid waste management authority should focus on utilizing this organic waste through a larger scale and wider involvement of the locals in composting program. The growth of small-scale community-based waste composting can act as a potential start up venue in accelerating this program, without the necessity of extensive investment by the local authority. The authority in the study area has provided appropriate waste disposal sites, but there are also some that were disposed in inappropriate sites. Majority of the respondents were also aware that improper waste management can lead to diseases. Age, marital status and, type of house was found to be the group that segregate their waste the most, indicating that respondents which fall under this category can be the target for further intervention programs. This study suggests the local authorities to design waste separation programs that suit the needs of targeted population, to ensure high participation rate among the community. Marketing and campaigns should emphasize the positive perception and attitude towards waste separation at home and also negative perception of non-participants. This study may provide authorities in Malaysia with baseline information to set the future implementations of waste segregation activities in households. This study also suggests focusing on inculcating community involvement in doing waste separation at source, waste reduction and recycling as a habit and way of life. The local authority may facilitate this activity by providing bins to segregate wastes, establishing waste banks and recycling facilities at a wider scale than the scattered existing ones. Both a top-down and bottom-up approach should work hand in-hand to realize the sustainable solid waste management as a success.

Nevertheless, acknowledging the limitations of the current study, a more detailed and thorough study should incorporate a wider region, in-depth association of waste separation programs and health implications. Combining survey questionnaire with statistical analysis act as a stepping stone to expand the study by engaging the community in actual waste separation activities. This can be done by initiating a collaboration between the local authority, the leader in a community and the residents itself as a pilot study. In addition, the findings of this study will serve as baseline evidence and pave the way for other researchers and policymakers to conduct more rigorous studies on this arena.

Availability of data and materials

The datasets supporting the conclusions of this article are included within the supplementary material section.

Abbreviations

Statistical Package for Social Science

Solid Waste Management

municipal solid waste

not in my backyard

Kota Bharu Municipal Council

Sustainable Development Goals

Malaysian Ringgit

Principal component analysis

Kaiser-Meyer-Olkim

Refuse Derived Fuel

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to everybody who completed the questionnaires and to Miss Aisyah Ariff, Miss Zetty Hiddayah binti Zuharizam and Mr Wan Izulfikri bin Wan Mohd Roslan for assisting in data collection.

This study was financially supported by Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia (Postdoctoral Fellowship SLAB) and Universiti Sains Malaysia. None of the funders were involved in the design of the study, in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data and in the writing of the manuscript.

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School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia, USM, 11800, Penang, Malaysia

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Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

Sharifah Norkhadijah Syed Ismail

Biomedicine Program, School of Health Sciences, Health Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 16150, Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, Malaysia

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WF contributed in conceptualization and writing the manuscript. NINI collected the data, contributed to the literature review and execute the project. SNSI contributed in the formal analysis, methodology, data curation and the tables and figures. MHJ contributed to editing of the manuscript. HA contributed in supervision, project administration and planning. All authors have read and approved the final version of this manuscript.

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Fadhullah, W., Imran, N.I.N., Ismail, S.N.S. et al. Household solid waste management practices and perceptions among residents in the East Coast of Malaysia. BMC Public Health 22 , 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-12274-7

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The determinants of household water consumption: A review and assessment framework for research and practice

• A. Cominola   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-4031-4704 1 , 2 ,
• L. Preiss   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-0033-0080 3 ,
• M. Thyer 3 ,
• H. R. Maier   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-0277-6887 3 ,
• P. Prevos   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-2768-031X 4 ,
• R. A. Stewart 5 , 6 &
• A. Castelletti   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-7923-1498 7  

npj Clean Water volume  6 , Article number:  11 ( 2023 ) Cite this article

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Achieving a thorough understanding of the determinants of household water consumption is crucial to support demand management strategies. Yet, existing research on household water consumption determinants is often limited to specific case studies, with findings that are difficult to generalize and not conclusive. Here, we first contribute an updated framework for review, classification, and analysis of the literature on the determinants of household water consumption. Our framework allows trade-off analysis of different criteria that account for the representation of a potential water consumption determinant in the literature, its impact across heterogeneous case studies, and the effort required to collect information on it. We then review a comprehensive set of 48 publications with our proposed framework. The results of our trade-off analysis show that distinct groups of determinants exist, allowing for the formulation of recommendations for practitioners and researchers on which determinants to consider in practice and prioritize in future research.

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Introduction

As urbanization is increasing globally, with trends that are unlikely to stabilize in the next decades 1 , 2 , water demand-side management strategies are emerging as key interventions to manage the current and future urban metabolism, and realize the potential of water conservation in cities 3 , 4 , 5 .

The domestic sector uses one of the largest portions of water in cities 6 , 7 . Therefore, achieving a thorough understanding of how, when, and how much water is used in households is of the upmost importance for water authorities and policy makers alike to design effective demand-side management strategies and inform future urban planning 8 . Knowledge of the behaviour surrounding water demand is vital to positively influence water conservation 9 and to implement effective and enforceable water demand management strategies. Additionally, better knowledge and improved predictions of water demands also allow water authorities to better size new water storage, distribution, and treatment infrastructure, as well as plan future upgrades of current systems 10 .

Recent literature has shown that there is a large number of climate and socio-demographic variables, attitudes, beliefs, and other factors that can vary between different households and can potentially influence water consumption. These factors, called determinants , can all influence household water use in different ways. In addition, the collection of data on each determinant is just as varied as the determinant itself. Some, such as average temperature, are readily accessible on a regional scale and can be obtained and analysed with ease 11 , 12 , 13 . Others, such as people’s perception of behavioural control, are difficult to capture. They represent subjective and stated information, rather than measurable observations, and often require detailed surveys with multiple questions, followed by lengthy and time-consuming analysis, to determine whether any information can be inferred from the survey data 14 , 15 .

The advent of advanced metering infrastructure (or smart meters) provides unprecedented access to high spatial and temporal resolution information on water consumption 16 , 17 , 18 . As smart metering is becoming more and more common and accessible on a global scale 19 , 20 , it provides the opportunity to greatly increase knowledge on the different potential factors driving household water consumption 21 , 22 .

Despite the advances described above, most of the state-of-the-art determinant analyses to date are often limited to a few case studies, and the existing findings are difficult to generalize and not conclusive. More research is needed to explore the trade-offs among different criteria that account for the relevance of potential determinants for water consumption modelling and management, their proven impact on heterogeneous case studies, and the cost of labour and/or of equipment required to collect information about a determinant. While previous studies have already performed literature reviews or meta analysis to identify key determinants of household water consumption and household water demand modelling, they usually only provide a descriptive analysis of the literature, without proposing analytic tools, quantitative trade-off analysis, and recommendations for both practitioners and researchers 8 , 9 , 20 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 . Furthermore, following the need for more data with a higher granularity also highlighted by some of these previous studies, the literature has seen numerous recent developments enabled by smart metering information. Here, we contribute an updated framework for review, classification, and analysis of the literature on household water consumption determinants. We also comprehensively analyze 48 peer-reviewed scientific publications focused on the identification and analysis of the determinants of household water consumption, selected after application of exclusion criteria from a larger data base of 231 papers analyzed for contextual information. Water consumption data recorded at the individual household level became only recently available, with the development of smart metering studies. Yet, previous residential water consumption studies included domestic water consumption data aggregated at coarser spatial scales. The set of reviewed papers includes studies using water consumption data gathered at different scales, from individual households to census tract/municipality level, depending on data availability.

The ultimate goal of this review is to identify which determinants have proven impact via extensive research and, thus, are recommended for consideration in practical applications related to household water consumption characterization, modelling, and prediction. After identifying these proven-impact determinants, the other determinants identified are those that require more research to fill existing gaps related to validation over multiple case studies, impact evaluation, and assessment of the costs and benefits of gathering information on a particular determinant. Specifically, the contribution of this review is three-fold. First, we develop a multi-criteria assessment framework for analyzing the key determinants that influence household water demand. Assessment criteria include their popularity in the literature, impact on household water consumption, and cost for determinant quantification. Second, we apply the proposed assessment framework to a comprehensive set of state-of-the-art studies to derive insights about the predominant determinants of household water consumption. Finally, we provide a classification system of household water use determinants and recommendations for researchers and practitioners that can be used to inform future research and applications.

Paper search and exclusion criteria

To gain an understanding of the current state of research on the determinants of household water consumption, we systematically searched for peer-reviewed journal papers and technical reports and comprehensively reviewed the state-of-the-art literature following a three-step procedure.

We first searched for the combinations of keywords reported in Fig. 1 in the subject/title/abstract of papers published in the last 40 years and stored in the Elsevier “Engineering Village” databases 28 . These keywords returned a search of over 8200 papers, requiring the “limit to” feature to be used to narrow the search. This allows most irrelevant topics to be filtered and removed from the search, reducing the list of papers to 4326 (See Supplementary Notes 1 for the full list of removed keywords).

The represented query was used to search for papers on the determinants of household water consumption published in the last 40 years and stored in the Elsevier “Engineering Village” databases 28 . Subject, title, and abstract fields were considered for the initial search.

Second, we manually screened the title and abstract of each paper from the reduced sample of 4326 paper, checking for relevance within the scope of our study. This expert based screening for consistency returned a total of 231 papers referred to as general water consumption-related set of papers (see Supplementary References for the complete list). Some of these general water consumption-related papers are commonly cited within the literature found in the search. We reference them in the motivation of this study or discussion surrounding the results, but they were not necessarily analysed as part of the water consumption determinant assessment framework.

Finally, we reviewed all the general water consumption-related papers to determine if they actually analysed determinants against water use results, which is the main requirement for a paper to be included in our systematic review. Additionally, we formulated the following exclusion criteria:

We excluded papers that focus on water consumption in non-residential settings, including public buildings or touristic facilities 29 , 30 . However, we kept studies considering residential water consumption data or determinant data at the aggregate level for residential groups (e.g., census tracts).

We excluded papers that focus on theoretical models or self reported data, without quantitative comparison to actual (metered) water consumption data 31 , 32 .

We excluded papers that examine only a single type of indoor end use (e.g., only shower usage 33 ).

We excluded papers that do not focus on analysing determinants to water use, but were otherwise water related. These included papers with a primary focus on water use behaviour change, water restriction compliance, water efficient appliance uptake, water use estimation accuracy, or water price elasticity, without quantitative analysis of the determinants-to-water consumption relationship 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 .

We included papers that examined water consumption in both households and apartments. However, studies centred on just apartments (which often use water only indoor) were deemed to be beyond the scope of the review and were not included 40 .

As a result of the application of the above selection procedure, a database of 48 papers was compiled as the final set for systematic review and formulation of our assessment framework. This set of papers is hereafter referred to as framework analysis papers (see Supplementary Table 1 ).

Water consumption determinant assessment framework

In this study, we developed a two-phase comprehensive assessment framework to analyze the water consumption determinants reported in the framework analysis set of papers. At the conceptual level, the first phase of our framework, i.e., the determinant classification , is aimed at characterizing the nature of the identified water consumption determinants (e.g., physical, psychological) and categorizing them in groups based on their similarities, independently from their influence on water consumption. The second phase, named determinant analysis , is aimed at assessing the influence of different determinants in relation to water consumption, along with their relevance in the literature, and the effort required to retrieve them. The categories and attributes we defined for determinant classification and analysis are described in the next sections.

Determinant classification

We defined three main categories to classify the water consumption determinants: observable, latent, and external.

Observable determinants are defined as those determinants that can be physically seen or measured. They can be easily and/or directly measured and include objective features related to the occupants of the household and their house (e.g., occupant age, household size, household income, number of toilets).

Latent determinants relate to the way the occupants of the household think, feel, or act. Typically, they cannot be directly measured and need to be inferred from surveys/direct questions, and they can be subjective. Examples include attitude to water saving, individual habits, and beliefs.

External determinants are external to the house and might influence a suburb or groups of houses at a regional level. Examples might include weather variables, such as rainfall and/or temperature.

These three categories were used to facilitate the characterization and analysis of the determinants found in the literature, both in terms of ease of information gathering and impact on water consumption. For instance, observable determinants are generally easier to collect information on and, therefore, are expected to be more common in literature than latent determinants. External determinants often influence houses on a suburb or higher level, whereas observable determinants may have a different impact on every house on a street 41 . An overview of the determinant classification system is provided in Fig. 2 . As shown in the figure, we further separated each of the three categories above into sub-categories to group the individual determinants that were closely related into the same categories. A detailed summary of the sub-categories, the determinants included, and the question defining each determinant are reported in Table 1 (observable determinants), Table 2 (latent determinants), and Table 3 (external determinants). The category of observable determinants is further broken down into three sub-categories, i.e., socio-demographic (relating to the people inside the household), house (relating to the structure of the house itself), and yard characteristics (relating to the yard and its irrigation). Latent determinants are further separated into the following categories: gardening , awareness , perception , habits, and other . External determinants are sub-classified depending on the variable of interest, i.e., average temperature , average rainfall , water price , and other . This sub-categorization is primarily useful for discovering latent determinants, because it enables specific questions related to subjective behavioral attitudes and/or habits to be grouped and analysed together. However, due to the low number of papers for each individual question, the analyses for the latent determinants is mainly undertaken at the category level.

Potential water use determinants are classified in three categories, namely observable, latent, and external. Observable determinants are defined as those determinants that can be physically seen or measured. Latent determinants relate to the way the occupants of the household think, feel, or act. External determinants are external to the house and might influence a suburb or groups of houses at a regional level.

Determinant analysis

After extracting and categorising the determinants of household water consumption from each paper in the framework analysis set, we assessed the influence of different determinants in relation to water consumption, along with their relevance in the literature, and effort required to retrieve them. The goal of this determinant analysis phase is to find the trade-off among how much a determinant has been studied in the literature, how much it impacts water demand, and the cost required to obtain information about this determinant, relating to both labour and equipment. We defined three criteria to perform the determinant analysis: representation, impact, and effort.

Representation refers to how popular a determinant is in the reviewed literature on household water consumption. The representation R of a determinant i is thus defined as its relative frequency in the set of framework analysis papers:

where N i is the number of times a determinant i appeared in the studies considered and T is the total number of framework analysis papers (i.e., 48).

Impact refers to whether or not a particular determinant actually influences the water use in a household. If the measurement and inclusion of a determinant was found to change the accuracy of a prediction or have some other effect on the household water demand, then the determinant was said to have impact. Given a potential determinant of water consumption and the study where it was mentioned, we defined three possible categories of impact:

Yes (Y) . Impact found and analyzed: determinant information was collected in the study, numerical analysis was undertaken (e.g., statistical analysis, regression) and the determinant was found to have an impact on demand/predictability by the authors of the paper.

No/Low (NL) . Impact found and analyzed: determinant information was collected in the study, numerical analysis was undertaken (e.g., statistical analysis, regression), but the determinant was found to have no or low impact on demand/predictability.

Collected, but not analyzed (CNA) . Determinant information was collected in the study, but no analysis was undertaken for one or a number of reasons, such as lack of sufficient data or not selecting the determinant as a focus. Studies containing determinants that fall in this category also analyzed other determinants falling in the previous two categories. For this reason, they were not excluded from the framework analysis set of papers. Despite collecting data on several determinants, these studies only performed quantitative analysis for a subset of determinants. This category does not include determinants that were only superficially mentioned (e.g., in the paper introduction) and, thus, did not refer to the specific case study analyzed in the paper.

A blanket “Yes” rating was given to all determinants where impact was found. This was done rather than assigning a low, medium, high impact rating because each paper used a different technique for assessing impact. This means that different metrics are used in different papers, hampering a direct comparison and grouping determinants into individual impact categories. Some papers, such as 11 and 7 , compare determinants to other determinants in the paper, whereas other papers use statistics to determine which determinants have a larger impact. Some build mathematical models for impact assessment, such as structural equation models 42 , 43 , 44 , or multiple linear regression 13 , 45 , 46 . We defined the impact I of a determinant i as follows:

where \({N}_{i}^{\,{{\mbox{Yes}}}\,}\) is the number of papers where the determinant i is given a “Yes” rating and \({T}_{i}^{\,{{\mbox{(Yes + No)}}}\,}\) is the total of papers with “Yes” and “No” impact rating for determinant i . This excluded papers where the determinant had a CNA impact rating, because there was no definitive impact from this determinant from the papers that mentioned it.

Effort refers to the cost of labour and/or of equipment required to collect information about a determinant. For the purposes of this paper, effort is divided into three categories, i.e., Low , Medium , and High (Table 4 ). A low rating means that the information on the determinant is easily available for each house and can be obtained via a desktop study, with no interaction with the households needed. In contrast, the high effort rating corresponds to actually visiting the house and taking measurements and/or surveys.

In cases where the paper did not explicitly state the effort required to collect the information on the determinant, we assigned a low effort rating, assuming that no special effort was required (i.e., no ad hoc procedure for data gathering needed to be set up and described). Each of the categories is quantified by a corresponding effort rating factor, based on an estimate of the number of hours of labour required to collect information on a given determinant. This rating factor was then scaled such that the low rating is coupled with an effort rating factor equal to 1 (see more details in the Supplementary Notes 2) . For a given determinant i , the overall effort rating E i was determined by calculating the geometric mean of the effort rating across the analyzed papers:

where N i ,L , N i ,M , and N i ,H are the number of studies reporting determinant i with an associated low (L), medium (M), and high (H) effort, respectively, and T i is the total number of papers reporting determinant i . We used the geometric mean, rather than the arithmetic mean, because the effort rating factor varies across two orders of magnitude.

Overview of paper search outcome

A general overview of the 231 general water consumption-related and 48 framework analysis scientific publications reviewed in this study (Fig. 3 ) shows that the number of papers published per year from the general water consumption-related set has been increasing, particularly since the early 2000s. Peaks of more than 10 papers per year in this category emerge since 2011, with a maximum peak of 34 papers recorded in 2018. This increasing trend in time can be attributed to the increasing development of smart metering studies, which have been increasingly allowing detailed household water demand/consumption and behavioral analysis 20 , 47 . As a selected subset of the general water consumption-related papers set, the number of framework analysis papers has also increased in the last decade, compared to the ’80s and ’90s, constituting up to 5 papers per year. The final set of papers includes small-case studies comprising only a few units (11 individual households are considered as a minimum in 48 ), as well as large-scale studies comprising several thousands of households (e.g., more than 8000 individual households are considered in 49 ), or entire communities/towns 50 .

The yearly count of the 231 general water consumption-related (blue) and 48 framework analysis (orange) scientific publications reviewed in this study is represented for the last forty years.

Figure 4 shows the locations of the studies from the framework analysis set, with larger blue dots indicating more studies. The geographical distribution of the reviewed studies indicates that the interest in the determinants of water use is worldwide. Prominent interest emerges in particular areas, such as the US west coast, the east coast of Australia, and the Mediterranean area in Europe, perhaps reflecting the combination of areas more prone to drought and/or having the higher economic capacity to undertake water use related research.

The location of the 48 framework analysis papers reviewed in this study is represented with blue markers. Marker size is proportional to the amount of studies in a specific location.

Determinant representation by class

From the analysis of the 48 framework analysis papers, we identified a range of heterogeneous determinants and quantified different combinations of determinant classes, namely observable, latent, and external (see Determinant classification). Figure 5 shows an overview of the representation for the different classes of determinants over the 48 analyzed papers. Observable determinants were the most popular (47 total studies, i.e., 98% representation), with latent and external having lower representation of 52% and 56%, respectively. The values represented in the figure confirm our hypotheses that observable determinants are more common in literature than latent determinants, due to their availability in public databases, either at the household level or at coarser spatial sub-urban scales (e.g., census data collected at the block group-level, such as those used in 49 ). The slightly higher representation of external determinants, compared to latent determinants, is also as expected due to the widespread availability of weather records (e.g., temperature, rainfall) from national or international environmental agencies. While there is no full consensus in the literature on the effect of weather or price variables on water consumption 51 , 52 , 53 , the high degree of representation of external determinants demonstrates that they are considered in more than half of the studies.

The representation of different classes of determinants (observable, latent, and external) in the 48 reviewed framework analysis papers is represented with coloured circles. Intersections are also visualized. The size of each circle and the numerical labels indicate the number of studies in which each combination of determinant classes appeared.

It is worth observing that multiple classes of determinants are simultaneously analyzed in most of the reviewed studies, with fewer than 20% analyzing observable variables alone. Further, almost every time external or latent variables are considered, they appear in combination with observable variables. Only one study specifically focused on analyzing the motivations for using and conserving water based on only latent determinants 42 , while no studies exclusively considered external variables. In contrast, nearly 30% of the studies included both observable and external variables, approximately 23% of the studies considered latent and external variables simultaneously, and 27% of the studies included all three types of determinant classes.

The high representation of observable determinants (Fig. 5) suggests that observable variables are widespread in the literature on modelling and forecasting of household water consumption. The prevalence of this class of determinants seems also to confirm the findings from previous studies, which demonstrated that meteorological variables have a greater influence on medium-term prediction and urban/suburban scales, but socio-demographics become more relevant when household-scale and short-term water demand models are developed 54 , 55 .

Individual determinant representation, impact, and effort

To facilitate interpretation of the numerical values we obtained for the three determinant assessment criteria (i.e., representation, impact, and effort) we defined some regions of interest for each criterion based on thresholds (see the regions labelled as low/high/very high in Fig. 6 ). We selected the threshold values used to delimit the above regions of interest based on visual inspection of the empirical distribution of the representation, impact, and effort values. This simplification is carried out to facilitate the inference of general qualitative conclusions, while accounting for the low number of papers and, at the same time, high number of determinants. As a result, representation values above/below 30% are considered high/low. Impact values below 75% are considered low, values between 75% and 90% are considered high, and values above 90% are considered very high. Effort rate values above/below 8 are considered high/low.

The three criteria to perform determinant analysis, i.e., representation (top), impact (middle), and effort rate (bottom) are associated with individual determinants. Observable determinant class is shown in green, latent class in blue, and external in orange. Shaded background indicates different levels of intensity for each analysis criterion. See Tables 1 – 3 for determinant acronyms definition (the determinants included in the categories marked as “Other” in the tables are not represented for better clarity).

From the resulting data visualized in Fig. 6 , we can infer the following insights about determinant representation, impact, and effort. First, the determinants with the highest representation (top plot in Fig. 6 ) were household income (> 70%), family size (> 60%), and age (> 45%). As already suggested by the outcomes of class representation (Fig. 5 ), all the above determinants with high representation are observable. One exception is the awareness determinant, which is the only non-observable determinant we found with high representation. The majority of the other determinants had a representation rate of 10% to 30%.

Second, the number of determinants with a high or very high impact (middle plot in Fig. 6) is much larger than the number of determinants with high representation. It must be noted that a high impact does not necessarily mean that a determinant was found to have a high influence on water consumption, but rather that it was found to have some influence on water consumption in many publications. Interestingly, some determinants from all classes achieve high or very high levels of impact. Observable determinants with very high impact include socio-demographic information (number of occupants), house characteristics (house age, value), and outdoor characteristics (garden size, and presence of rainwater tanks). While these latter attributes related to gardens ranked among those with the highest impact, garden composition was found to have one of the lowest impact rates across the analyzed studies. Also, the observable determinants related to the education level of occupants was found to have low impact. A latent variable that emerges as very important (GARD_C) is also related to garden characteristics, but, rather than representing any physical variable, it accounts for the psychological value given by occupants’ attitudes and habits towards gardening. Finally, all external variables were found to have high or very high impact, with rainfall and water price emerging as the two with impact above 90%.

The bottom plot of Fig. 6 shows that there was a wide variability in the effort rate for each individual determinant. Data on most of the observable determinants can be generally gathered with low effort, but some (e.g., appliance inventory and irrigation system) require house visits, and thus require high effort. In turn, all latent variables display an effort rate higher than 6, and three out of four are classified as high-effort. Conversely, data on all external determinants can be retrieved with low effort, as they are usually available from national agencies (weather data) and water utilities (water price). Obtaining information on higher effort determinants likely requires getting in contact with individual householders, via phone/online surveys, or house visits.

Overall, the results reported in Fig. 6 suggest that there are trade-offs between representation, impact, and effort. In the next section, we perform a joint analysis of the three criteria and their trade-off to infer the implications of the outcomes of this study for researchers and practitioners.

Trade-off analysis and implications for researchers and practitioners

Figure 7 shows the interaction between the representation, impact, and effort criteria. The distribution of blue and orange points in the figure demonstrates that there are different trade-offs among the three criteria. Each trade-off can have a different set of implications to derive recommendations for researchers and also practitioners. We identified the three groups of determinants marked with (A), (B), and (C) to illustrate the different needs of research and practice. Group A is characterized by high impact, high representation, and low effort. Determinants in this group include household family size, occupants’ age, and occupants’ income. This group of well-studied determinants with proven impact might be particularly interesting for practitioners aiming to gather knowledge on household water consumption with budget constraints. Group (B), which includes, among others, information on the household irrigation system, appliance efficiency, and occupant gender, is characterized by medium-to-high impact, but low representation, and a range of low to high effort. While this group might not be very appealing for practitioners due to low representation, researchers might be interested in focusing on these determinants to increase their representation and, thus, validate or contrast the limited findings on these determinants that appear in the literature. Finally, Group C refers to determinants with low representation and, compared to those in groups A and B, lower impact. As they also might require high gathering efforts, these determinants should be treated with caution until more research is performed to prove their potential impact on a larger sample of studies.

Impact (x-axis) vs Representation (y-axis) vs Effort (color) of each determinant. Each point refers to a specific determinant. See Tables 1 – 3 for determinant acronyms definition. The determinants classified as “High effort" are those with an effort value larger than 8.0, vice-versa for the “Low effort" determinants. Determinants are organized in three groups: Group A - high impact, high representation, and low effort; Group B - medium-to-high impact, low representation, and mixed low and high effort; Group C - low representation, low impact, mixed effort.

Accounting for similar trade-offs across the entire sample of determinants that we have identified from the review of the literature enables determinant-specific recommendations to be derived for practitioners and researchers. In the last step of this review and determinant classification effort we thus develop a trade-off analysis framework that considers different combinations of representation, effort, and impact to formulate such recommendations. In keeping with the goal of this study, our trade-off analysis aims at identifying groups of determinants that have proven cost-effective impact via extensive research and, thus, can be recommended for use in practice, compared with groups of determinants that require more research to address open questions related to representation, impact, and effort. The proposed trade-off analysis framework includes four main recommendation categories:

In this category, we include determinants characterized by high representation, high/very high impact, and low effort. We consider these determinants as determinants that practitioners can “definitely use" (U), as they have been extensively researched and have been shown to have an impact in most cases, while being affordable. For the same reasons, higher levels of research priority should be devoted to less explored determinants, while these can serve as references. The determinants included in box (A) in Fig. 7 belong to this group.

In this category, we classify those determinants characterized by low representation, high/very high impact, and low effort. Given their promising, but not extensively proven, impact, and overall affordability, further research on these determinants should be prioritized to increase their representation (IR). We consider these determinants as determinants that practitioners can “use with caution" (UC), as they have not been extensively researched, but at the same time might have high impact at low-cost. The determinants included in box (B) in Fig. 7 and classified as low effort (blue color) belong to this group.

In this category, we include determinants characterized by generally low representation, high/very high impact, and high effort. Similarly to the previous category, we believe that practitioners can use these determinants “with caution" (UC), as they have not been extensively researched and require high effort for data collection, but at the same time might have high/very high impact. Given their promising, but not extensively proven, impact, and high cost, further research on these determinants should be prioritized, primarily to lower the effort (LE) needed to collect them and, thus, facilitate their consideration in more studies (increased representation - IR). The determinants included in box (B) in Fig. 7 and classified as high effort (orange color) belong to this group.

IR/LE/AI-NP

In this category, we include determinants characterized by low representation, low impact, and mainly high effort. Given the limited knowledge on these determinants, we suggest that these determinants are “not prioritized" (NP) for use by practitioners unless further research demonstrates that the effort required to collect these determinants is worth the benefit of considering them. Further research should then aim at increasing their representation (IR), lowering the effort needed to obtain data on these determinants (LE), and further assessing their impact (AI) to acquire better knowledge on their actual value. The determinants included in box (C) in Fig. 7 belong to this group.

Summary information on the above categories is reported in Table 5 . Based on the proposed trade-off analysis framework and the threshold values defined in Fig. 6 , we associated each of the different determinants identified in the framework analysis papers with a level of recommendation (see Fig. 8 ). Some relevant insights for researchers and practitioners emerge. First, only observable determinants are classified as “U". At present, there are some socio-demographic determinants (i.e., number of occupants, income level, and occupant age) that can be reliably used by practitioners in most cases to model household water consumption and can be easily and affordably retrieved.

Each household water consumption determinant identified in the framework analysis papers is associated with a level of recommendation. Determinants are classified according to the three defined classes (columns), i.e., observable, latent, and external. Four levels of recommendation (rows) are formulated for practitioners and researchers. They are sorted in decreasing order of representation and proven impact in research, as well as confidence for use in practical applications. Confidence for use in practical applications decreases going from green ("U" level of recommendation) to orange ("IR/LE/AI-NP" level of recommendation).

Second, all external variables (i.e., average rainfall, temperature, and water price) are classified as IR-UC. Consequently, they have a proven impact, but have been used sporadically in connection with household water consumption (while they have been used more often at larger, urban scales), thus results might be case-specific and further research is needed to assess their impact on a larger number of studies.

Third, a mix of observable and latent external variables deserves further research to lower effort (e.g., by improving technology/data gathering practices or identifying lower-effort proxies for the same type of information) and increase representation. These variables are either observable determinants, the collection of which requires significant effort and house visits/calls to occupants (e.g., to build an inventory of appliance efficiency or storing information on irrigation systems), or latent variables the impact of which is still not proven due to low representation. The increasing availability of high-resolution metering and behavioral studies fostered by smart metering development is likely to contribute more knowledge on these determinants and more complete guidelines for use by practitioners in the coming years 7 , 17 , 20 .

Fourth, we would like to stress that the recommendation “Do not favor adoption until further research" for the determinants classified as IR/LE/AI-NP does not mean that they should not be considered in future applications or no research should be done on them. Conversely, we recognize that many existing studies are based on limited data or data with coarser spatio-temporal resolutions, thus conclusive statements on the impact of such determinants would require further validation. Since large uncertainty about their impact remains, more studies are actually needed to increase the representation of these determinants and increase the statistical significance and generality of their impact assessment. Joint research that also includes other determinants with higher levels of representation could be beneficial to discover more information on the determinants in this group and better understand whether practitioners should eventually include one/more of these determinants in their analysis. Further research could be also developed to assess the degree to which these determinants are correlated with others, and hence redundant, and to which extent these and other determinants can relate to particular characteristics of water consumption (e.g., demand peaks, end use components).

Finally, some of the determinants that we recommend to use with caution (UC) in practice, and that should be prioritized for research, might become determinants to definitely use (U) in the future. Two limitations currently prevent us to recommend “definitely use" for these determinants, i.e., generally low representation and high effort for data collection. Low representation indicates that the determinant has not been well-studied in the literature. Hence it might not be generalizable to a wide range of locations. To address the disadvantages of low representation, the following is recommended for practitioners:

Check the literature and if there are studies with similar context (location/climate/application) to the practitioners’ required application, and the impact of the determinant is high, then the determinant could be considered for use.

Continue to monitor the literature, to see if new studies appear using that determinant.

The other limitation, high effort, means that in the reviewed past studies it has been costly for practitioners to collect some of the required determinants. With the advent and widespread use of new technologies, the effort required to collect some of the required high-effort determinants may be substantially reduced. Lowering the effort related to some high-impact, yet also high-effort, determinants (see, e.g., those indicated with orange color in Group B in Fig. 7) would have a two-fold benefit. The direct reduction of the costs required to collect information on those determinants will also enable wider consideration of these determinants in a larger number of studies, thus increasing their representation. As technology enhances the capture of such determinants, there is an opportunity to revisit past studies/datasets and increase the representation of these determinants, which might then transition to determinant group A in in Fig. 7 . To address the current limitations and disadvantages of high effort, the following is recommended for practitioners:

Monitor the use of emerging technologies that provide an opportunity to lower the cost required to collect the determinant. For example, there is an opportunity for analysis of high resolution satellite maps/photos to provide automated estimates of observable determinants such as garden size (GSZE) over large number of households, which would lower the cost substantially 56 . Similarly, latent determinants such as water consumption awareness (AWARE_C) could be based on the uptake of user-friendly smart metering and phone apps on water consumption if they were widely available 17 , 57 .

Evaluate overall costs vs benefits based on preliminary experiments on small sample data (to evaluate benefits while avoiding high costs), and consider the use of lower cost proxy data for the “high effort” determinant.

These recommendations provide some guidance for practitioners to handle determinants classified as “use with caution”.

Limitations and future research

This work provides evidence and a quantitative framework for the analysis of household water consumption determinants, yet several limitations and questions remain for further research. First, alternative formulations of determinant representations, impact, and effort could lead to different results. This also stands for the subjective thresholds we adopted to distinguish between high and low representation, impact, and effort. Such thresholds and criteria formulation could be changed based on needs and subjective judgement.

Second, in this review we focused on the analysis of individual determinants of household water consumption. However, some determinants could be correlated, present redundant information, or be accounted for in alternative ways to build models for forecasting water demand (e.g., rainfall amount versus rainfall occurrence 53 ). Input feature engineering, variable redundancy, and data accuracy can substantially affect the performance of water demand models. Future studies focused on comparative analysis of alternative determinant formulations and inter-links/dependencies among different determinants can help define non-redundant determinant sets to train models of water demand and recommendations for variable pre-processing.

Third, the findings of this study are consistent with previous review papers that identified both observable and latent variables as the most important with respect to domestic water consumption 58 . Yet, other meta-analyses and review studies found partly contradictory results. Differently from our study 26 , found that the most important determinants of water use behaviour are related to individual opportunities and motivations, gender, income, and education level. In turn 59 , formulated a model that accounted for a wide range of variables including demographics, dwelling characteristics, household composition, conservation intention, trust, perceptions, habits, and perceived behavioral control. It must be noted that the above studies do not consider household water consumption per se as we do here, but relate potential determinants of water consumption also to individual consumption or behavior changes (i.e., changes in water consumption over time). Future, potentially contrasting, studies could then expand the scope of this work and relax the exclusion criteria we adopted here to achieve more inclusive comparative analyses that investigate the effect of different determinants in relation to quantified intervals of total household water consumption, and other heterogeneous aspects of domestic water demand, including statistics on end use components (e.g., flow rate, duration, or frequency of individual appliances) 60 and temporal changes of water consumption levels due to external stressors such as droughts, or demand management interventions 39 , 49 , for example.

Fourth, the set of framework analysis papers includes case studies primarily located in the United States, Australia, and Europe (see Fig. 4) . Geographical coverage is thus skewed. There is a need for more studies from other geographical regions (including countries with low-income economies) in order to obtain a more balanced picture and consolidate/expand the results obtained so far.

Finally, recent works have highlighted that urban and household water demands have been modelled at different spatial and temporal resolutions 47 . The choice of the temporal and spatial resolution of interest is determined both by data availability and the specific modelling and management purpose. Multi-scale studies combining different levels of spatial and temporal aggregation of water demands and potential determinants would further advance our analysis and contextualize specific recommendations for data collection and processing at the different spatial and temporal scales of interest.

Outlook and summary

In this paper, we contributed a comprehensive literature review and assessment framework to evaluate state-of-the-art research on the determinants of household water consumption. Starting from a search that returned over 8200 papers, we identified 48 papers that clearly identify whether a particular determinant can have an impact on household water demand (see Supplementary Table 1 for the list of selected papers). We then developed a classification system and assessment framework to analyze these 48 papers with the following two-fold goal. First, we classified the potential determinants of household water consumption into three main categories, i.e., observable , latent , and external based on their nature and ease of information retrieval. Second, we defined three quantitative criteria to analyze the influence of different determinants in relation to water consumption and quantified them for the determinants identified in the reviewed papers. These three indicators look at (i) how frequently a determinant appears in the literature ( representation ), (ii) whether or not a particular determinant has been observed to influence household water consumption ( impact ), and (iii) what the cost for labour and/or equipment required to collect information on a particular determinant is ( effort ).

Our trade-off analysis of representation, impact, and effort shows that there are some distinct groups of water consumption determinants. Each group has different implications for practitioners and researchers and our analysis provides valuable guidance for practitioners and researchers on which determinants to consider in a range of situations. We identified a group of high impact, high representation, and low effort determinants which include household family size, occupants’ age, and income. These observable determinants have been widely studied in the literature and their impact on household water consumption has been demonstrated in several cases. Moreover, as information on these determinants can be obtained with low effort, this group may be of interest for practitioners that need to estimate or model household water consumption with budget constraints and little room for exploratory analysis. A wide range of other determinants may be more interesting for research purposes. This range include information on the external determinants, including climate variables and water price, which is usually easily accessible and does not require ad hoc data gathering campaigns, yet only a limited number of studies has correlated these determinants with water consumption at the household scale, demonstrating potentially high impact. In turn, some other observable determinants and most latent determinants that relate to subjective perceptions, awareness, habits, or opinions, require a higher data-gathering effort and have a more uncertain impact on household water consumption, often only demonstrated in specific case studies. Given the higher cost and more uncertain return, further analysis on these determinants can be prioritized by researchers before direct use in practice. Practitioners and researchers should also monitor emerging technologies that could potentially lower the cost of data gathering on wide-scale and provide an opportunity to analyse past data sets and increase the representation of these determinants.

This study also highlights several limitations that required further research to achieve general and conclusive interpretations on the link between the multi-faceted characteristics of household water consumption (including end-use components 61 , consumption change, and demand patterns) and its determinants. Overall, our literature review contributes a further step to systematically analyze the determinants of household water demand, develop a general understanding, and derive several recommendations to guide future research and practice. Moreover, the assessment framework we proposed here is ready to be used by water authorities and other parties that are interested in identifying informative sets of variables to predict household water consumption with a high degree of confidence, while taking into account budget and data availability.

Data availability

The authors declare that all data supporting the findings of this review are available within the paper, in the Supplementary Information, and in the reference list.

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The authors acknowledge support by the German Research Foundation and the Open Access Publication Funds of the Technical University of Berlin for covering publication costs.

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M.T. and H.M. designed the research. L.P. collected and analyzed most of the papers, and drafted an early-stage outline of this paper. All authors helped collect and review the papers in the final selection. A. C. (Andrea Cominola), L.P., M.T., H.M., P.P., R.S., and A.C. (Andrea Castelletti) developed the review framework. A.C. (Andrea Cominola), L.P., M.T., A.C. (Andrea Castelletti), and H.M. developed the final version of the paper. All authors reviewed the manuscript.

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Cominola, A., Preiss, L., Thyer, M. et al. The determinants of household water consumption: A review and assessment framework for research and practice. npj Clean Water 6 , 11 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41545-022-00208-8

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Household waste and health risks affecting waste pickers and the environment in low- and middle-income countries

Jutta gutberlet.

Department of Geography, University of Victoria, Victoria, Canada

Sayed Mohammad Nazim Uddin

Household waste has evolved into a core urban challenge, with increased quantities of waste being generated and with more complex material compositions, often containing toxic and hazardous elements. Critical systems theory understands cities as urban metabolisms, with different material and energy flows, highlighting the circularity in production, consumption, and discard. Waste pickers in low- and medium-income countries work on dumps and landfills, sifting through highly contaminated household waste and are exposed to health hazards. This paper discusses the risk factors, hazards, and vulnerabilities waste pickers are exposed to during collection and separation of recyclables, based on the review of literature on waste and environmental health and on findings from participatory research with waste pickers conducted in Brazil. We take a social and environmental justice perspective and identify the vulnerabilities and waste-borne hazards of household waste, associated with these workers, their communities, watersheds, and the environment. Household waste, although not always per se toxic or hazardous, can become a hazard if not collected or inadequately managed. Those communities where household waste is not collected or waste collection is insufficient are the most critical places. Informal and organized waste pickers, municipal or private waste collectors/workers, small waste traders and sometimes residents, particularly small children, may be considered vulnerable if exposed to waste-borne hazards. The results include recommendations to address household waste-borne hazards and vulnerabilities, according to waste workers involved in this research.

Graphical Abstract

Introduction

Worldwide, municipal solid waste generation has increased significantly over recent decades and so has the range of toxic and hazardous materials within the waste stream [ 1 – 3 ]. If household waste is not adequately collected, separated, and treated, as is often the case in low- and medium-income countries, not only the toxic components but also all waste can potentially become hazardous, generating long term and cumulative environmental and human health impacts. The health of local communities, particularly low-income neighbourhoods, is not only affected by the accumulation of uncollected waste [ 4 – 6 ] but can also be compromised by waste management facilities, including dumps, landfills, and incinerators [ 7 ]. Without protective equipment and awareness on how to handle these potentially risky materials, household waste becomes hazardous and poses health risks to those handling garbage.

Waste management infrastructure and services target the collection and transport of household waste, with the aim of maintaining and guaranteeing public health [ 8 , 9 ]. Waste management implies a wide range of distinct actors and different practices. The form in which waste is handled matters profoundly and decisions over which methods or technologies to apply can have long-term consequences. The absence or mismanagement of basic infrastructure poses serious consequences to human and environmental health. Focusing on the everyday life experience of city inhabitants disposing of their waste and waste pickers collecting recyclable materials reveals the risk factors and health hazards different groups of individuals are exposed to. “The everyday is both a key domain through which practices are regulated and normalised as well as an arena for negotiation, resistance and potential for difference” ([ 10 ] p. 2). Urban infrastructure and service provision is structured by the political economies and respective power relations that make up the city. Decisions over infrastructure and services are political and policymaking can involve various levels of democratic and participatory praxis, with variable outcomes [ 11 ].

Currently, more than one-third of the global urban population lives in informal settlements [ 12 , 13 ], often poorly connected to basic services [ 14 ]. In these neighbourhoods, open dumping of solid waste generates soil and water contamination as well as methane and other gas emissions, posing risks to human and environmental health [ 15 ]. Low-income residents are not passive about deteriorating socio-environmental conditions in their communities and create extensive informal sectors of waste pickers who collect and recycle household waste [ 16 , 17 ]. Driven both by the desire to maintain a healthy environment and by the need for jobs, residents initiate and support their own ability to provide and improve critical services, thus reducing the carbon footprint in their cities [ 18 – 21 ], recovering resources, improving the environmental conditions and health of low income residents. The informal waste sector creates many “low barrier” jobs needed for the poor [ 22 ].

Adequate collection and redirection, particularly of hazardous materials within household waste, must be safeguarded. In many cities in the global South, door-to-door selective waste collection is operated by waste pickers organized in cooperatives and community-based initiatives [ 23 ]. If recognized and supported by the local government, these community-oriented waste collection systems have the potential to minimize waste-induced risks to the community and specific health risks and vulnerabilities of waste pickers [ 24 ].

This paper discusses the risks and hazards for waste pickers in low- and medium-income countries from inadequately handled household waste. We draw on the review of existing literature and on our own empirical results from community engaged and participatory research to describe and discuss the nature and scope of household waste-borne risk factors to which the waste pickers, the community, and the environment are exposed. The literature review focusses mostly on recent work (since 2000) published in international academic occupational health journals. The primary data were collected by the first author during workshops, conversations, and field visits, in 2011 and following years, in Brazil [ 25 – 27 ].

Our research seeks to highlight particularly the everyday hazardous situations under which organized waste pickers work with household waste. The participatory research then suggests some measures as to how household waste-borne risks and hazards can be mitigated and how vulnerabilities can be made visible and reduced.

Theoretical background

Critical systems theory [ 28 , 29 ] applied to waste studies captures the circularity and the linear flows of the materiality in production, consumption, and discard and helps identify hierarchical power structures involved in these processes. Waste needs to be looked at through an interdisciplinary perspective. The idea of cities as urban metabolisms describes the different material and energy flows that take place in and around cities. Fluxes, networks, and processes of metabolically transformed nature form a new “socio-natural hybrid” [ 30 – 32 ]. The systems perspective identifies those flows, linkages, actors, social relations, and power dynamics that happen in city management and decision making, also with respect to waste management [ 33 ]. The present research takes an analytical systems approach and a social and environmental justice lens to uncover risk factors and health hazards involved in household waste disposal and collection. We understand household waste as the solid waste generated at the household level. This includes packaging, organic and inorganic waste as well as all household appliances and other consumer goods disposed of by households. Household hazardous waste includes chemical products such as cleaning solvents, paints, pesticides, and other substances that can catch fire, react with other chemicals, explode, or are corrosive or toxic and are disposed of by residential consumers. Poorly discarded hazardous household waste generates environmental health problems.

Environmental health is defined as “the theory and practice of assessing and controlling factors in the environment that can potentially affect adversely the health of present and future generations” ([ 34 ], p. 18). The original environmental health approach reflects a mostly natural science perspective, with concerns focused on the direct, biophysical effects of the environment on human health, thus oriented towards the protection of human health through regulation and standards. A critical systems perspective to environmental health in addition provides attention to the social environment. It acknowledges the importance of factors such as crowding, social inequalities, or historical, socio-economic and cultural determinants, underlining the political economy of socio-economic factors such as deprivation and poverty and the psychosocial processes that influence health [ 28 ]. Such an integrated conceptual framework also becomes essential to understanding and acting on environmental justice and environmental equity concerns. Certain individuals, households, and societies are more exposed to health hazards in the physical environment than others, burdening disproportionately those already characterized by socio-economic inequality, discrimination, and/or psychosocial stress from their social environment [ 35 – 37 ].

This paper uses the lens of the “prism framework of health and sustainability” [ 38 ], which integrates the biophysical and social sciences with the traditional environmental health. It links ecosystems and social systems as the foundation for health and sustainability. This lens further distinguishes equitable community and social development, including socio-economic determinants of health as well as the social network cohesion, health promotion, and education. Importantly, Parkes recognizes that dialogue between diverse stakeholders can make a difference, helping to better understand health and sustainability challenges. Empowerment, justice, and social cohesion are thus essential factors to build better environmental health [ 39 ].

Hazardous waste

Household hazardous waste is defined as the fraction of waste, originated from households, which contains corrosive, explosive, flammable, toxic, ignitable, or reactive ingredients and is difficult to dispose of or which put human health and the environment at risk because of its bio-chemical nature [ 5 , 40 ]. A major portion of municipal solid waste is household waste, of which 4 or more per cent [ 41 , 42 ] can be potentially harmful for both the environment and human health. For example, a significant proportion of water pollutants originate from the household waste stream [ 43 ]. In this paper, we consider household waste as hazardous if not properly collected or managed, both in urban and peri-urban settings, causing health and environmental hazards.

A range of health problems have been documented for waste workers which were caused by hazardous household waste or mismanaged household waste. Work-related disorders and injuries have been detected among the waste collectors around the world, such as respiratory problems, infectious diseases, gastrointestinal issues, muscle pain, fever, headache, fatigue, irritation of eyes and skins, mechanical trauma, pulmonary problems, chronic bronchitis, musculoskeletal damage and hearing loss, poor emotional well-being, and other specific types of injuries [ 26 , 44 , 45 ]. E-waste workers/collectors in Ghana are among the poorest and most vulnerable group in this country’s urban population. They work under hazardous conditions, being frequently exposed to burns and cuts at their hands [ 46 ]. If household waste is mixed with hospital waste, it can cause serious infections, including hepatitis B virus infection [ 47 ] among those who handle waste. Research shows that a higher occurrence of anti-hepatitis A virus (+) is found among the municipal waste workers than the non-waste-exposed group [ 48 ]. A review of occupational health problems and their possible causes shows that the health issues may be caused by the exposure of waste collectors to bio-aerosols (e.g. microorganisms) and volatile compounds (metabolites and toxins from these microorganisms) during the waste handlings [ 45 ]. Household hazardous waste not only has direct impacts on human health but also contaminates groundwater and increases the risk of contaminating wildlife’s habitats [ 40 ]. Pollutants can leach from littered household waste into the ground, contaminating the soil. Improperly disposed batteries and fluorescent lamps pose significant threats to the environment as described for Brazil [ 49 ]. Heavy metal contamination in foodstuff, house dust, farm soil, and groundwater were found in an e-waste recycling area in China, where work processes are currently not regulated [ 50 ].

Vulnerability

Vulnerability has been referred to in a wide range of multidisciplinary contexts, including development, medical, public health and nutrition, and environmental hazards, climate change and disasters [ 51 – 57 ]. Although researchers and authors from various disciplines define “vulnerability” differently, the concept almost always refers to the physical or mental risks or hazards for human beings by natural events or through anthropogenic activities. Vulnerability is defined as defencelessness, insecurity, and exposure to hazards, shocks, and stress [ 58 ]. Some argue that vulnerability should be seen not only in terms of individual harm but linked to the broader context of crises, including the differentiated nature of responses across households, communities, and the environment at large [ 57 ]. Other authors speak of vulnerability “as a threat to which a community is exposed, taking into account not only the properties of the chemical agents involved but also the ecological situation of the community and the general state of emergency preparedness, at any given point in time” ([ 59 ], p. 325). The poor and near poor are considered vulnerable groups due to their low access to assets and their limited abilities to respond to risks [ 52 ]. The prescriptive and normative response to vulnerability is to reduce exposure, enhance coping capacity, strengthen recovery potential, and bolster damage control via private and public means [ 60 ]. On the other hand, a hazard is defined as “a potential condition or dangerous phenomenon existing within a system, which when actuated becomes an actual mishap event resulting in damage, loss, injury, and/or death” [ 61 , 62 ]. Vulnerability of waste collectors and waste pickers can be defined as the exposures to toxic chemicals and hazardous wastes generated either from household or non-household sources, which may have serious consequences for their health. Significant initiatives have been taken in recent years to reduce human vulnerability from various kinds of hazards and risks related to disasters and climate change from community to global levels [ 63 ]. Besides these particular initiatives, vulnerability of people to waste-borne hazards has received less attention, particularly in the low- and medium-income countries.

Defining the research study: vulnerable groups, vulnerable places, and vulnerable environments

Vulnerable groups.

Vulnerable groups, exposed to household waste-borne hazards, include waste pickers, municipal and private waste collectors, small waste traders, and potentially residents [ 64 – 68 ]. However, waste pickers are the largest and most vulnerable group, because of their level of exclusion and the lack of protective measures when working with waste [ 69 – 72 ]. Exposure to airways inflammation and glucan can cause health hazards and waste workers, particularly waste pickers are affected significantly, due to unsorted hazardous household waste [ 73 ]. As such, household waste collectors and waste pickers are at risk of developing chronic respiratory symptoms such as cough, phlegm, wheezing, and chronic bronchitis [ 74 , 75 ].

A growing global problem is the exposure of these vulnerable populations, including children, to waste and specifically to e-waste-borne hazards and harm [ 68 ]. A recent study addresses some of the harmful health effects on children and pregnant women caused by e-waste exposure [ 68 ]. E-waste recycling operations can cause higher levels of polychlorinated dibenzo- p -dioxins and dibenzofurans which may even impact on the health of next generations [ 66 ]. Children, living in or next to informal recycling areas, are exposed to higher polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons than others, thus adversely affecting their height and chest circumference [ 76 ]. The concentration of nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) gas is higher than the standard limit of US-EPA and WHO guidelines in and near landfill sites, translating into health hazards for the communities nearby landfill sites [ 77 ]. Research has revealed that waste management workers also have increased incidences of accidents and musculoskeletal problems [ 64 ].

Finally, bags filled with garbage can contain all sorts of hazardous substances posing a risk of contamination to waste pickers. In 1987, several waste pickers were separating recyclables from hospital waste in Goiânia, Brazil, when they were exposed to mixed in radioactive waste. Other community members were also contaminated due to the contact with these workers. This was the largest accident involving radioactivity in Brazil [ 78 ].

Vulnerable places

Vulnerable places discussed here are communities, particularly those where household waste is not collected or where the collection is insufficient or neglected. Informal settlements face serious challenges due to improper waste management infrastructure, lack of collection services, and inadequate waste disposal [ 24 , 79 , 80 ]. There are large intra-city inequalities in low- and medium-income countries, related to waste disposal and collection services [ 81 ]. Sometimes waste is collected at the household level but then remains at transfer points without being evacuated from the neighbourhood [ 82 – 84 ]. Both liquid and solid waste management practices in urban informal settlements can pose significant risks to the environment and human health [ 85 ]. Open drains regularly receive household waste which can contain hazardous substances, polluting the wider environment and affecting the health of the local population [ 81 , 86 ]. Often local authorities fail to provide frequent garbage collection services due to the government’s low human and financial resource availability, high population density, and unplanned residential areas [ 87 ]. Waste disposed in the streets for many hours awaiting collection becomes a nuisance, forming foul-smells and leachate from the waste pile, attracting insects and rodents, which become vectors of diseases [ 85 , 88 ]. Improper disposal of waste creates and disseminates pathogens which can quickly spread among human and animal populations in the city. High-concentrated leachate potentially causes environmental threats affecting ground water and surrounding environments [ 89 ]. There is also the risk of explosion and fire due to the production of methane gas on landfilling sites [ 88 ].

Vulnerable environments

Informal dumping and uncollected household waste in watersheds gets carried into waterways by runoff water and often contaminates the local drinking water. A recent study shows that a maximum of 12.7 out of 275 million metric tons plastic waste enters the ocean, creating hazards for marine ecosystems [ 90 ], resulting in the cost of 13 billion USD/year for marine conservation initiatives [ 91 ]. Improper waste management practices contaminate the oceans and freshwater bodies in many parts of the world [ 85 ]. The vegetation near landfill sites is often damaged due to the replacement of oxygen by other gases produced in the root zones, causing the death of plants on the long term [ 85 , 92 ]. Research confirms that plants die due to various gas mixtures generated in typical landfill sites [ 93 ]. A range of hazardous pollutants (e.g. NO x , SO x , carbon dioxide, ozone) are emitted during waste collection processes, posing potential hazards to human health and the environment [ 94 ].

Landfilling is the most common waste disposal method in low- and middle-income countries and most landfills are open or “controlled” dumps while few can be considered sanitary landfills. Landfills also emit various air contaminants. Landfill biogas, for example, contains approximately 48–56% methane; which, if not captured, contributes to the greenhouse gas effect, affecting our global climate [ 95 ]. The groundwater under or near dump sites is contaminated due to a range of hazardous and toxic wastes and their components concentrated in the leachate which is anaerobically fermented [ 96 ] and also due to the disposal of waste into the highly permeable alluvial sediments [ 97 ]. Additionally, high concentration of carbon dioxide and presence of vinyl chloride and other volatile hydrocarbons produced in dumps and landfill sites may cause groundwater pollution due to its high-solubility characteristics [ 91 ]. The concentration of various parameters such as chlorides, sulphate, cadmium, and chromium is higher in aquifers near urban landfill sites, exceeding the standard values for drinking water. This can occur due to various factors such as low depth of the water table, high soil permeability, absence of a proper drainage system for the leachate, direct contact of groundwater with leachate at the bottom of the landfill, and semi-arid climate conditions [ 98 ]. Research shows that a high concentration of total dissolved solids, electrical conductivity, total alkalinity, chlorides, sodium, and lead are present in the groundwater samples near landfills, which are higher than the standard limits [ 99 ]. In the case of a high-income country like Canada, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and m-, p-, o -xylene were also detected in the groundwater near former landfill sites in the eastern subarctic region [ 100 ]. Adverse effects on the environment such as groundwater contamination have been found due to the migration of chloride, manganese, and coliform bacteria from landfill sites. The coliform bacteria multiply when leachate enters in the oxygenated groundwater system. Some other groundwater contamination indicators include Cl, HCO 3 , Cl/HCO 3 , Zn, Na, NH 4 , SEC, hardness, P, metals, NH 4 , NO 3 , TDS, SO 4 , Fe, COD, Cr, Ni, Cu, CN, microorganisms [ 101 ]. The dispersion of toxic pollutions from municipal dumps and landfills through groundwater contamination compromises the quality of the surrounding environments.

Research findings on waste pickers’ health risk perceptions

As part of the Participatory Sustainable Waste Management project (PSWM), the knowledge creation process was a collective one. The PSWM project was a community–university partnership between the University of Victoria in Canada and the University of São Paulo, Brazil, conducted with 30 recycling cooperatives in the metropolitan region of São Paulo, between 2005 and 2012 [ 95 ]. The vision that has inspired PSWM is the aspiration of transforming the life of informal sector recyclers, improving their working conditions and their livelihood outcomes. The project which over the years expanded into a programme aimed at building participatory processes and strengthening the organization of waste pickers to expand existing capacities and to increase the effectiveness and safety during collection, separation, stocking, and commercialization of recyclables. Capacity-building is concerned with social and political relationships and concentrates on enabling people to overcome discriminatory practices that limit their life-chances. It is a process of collective learning that enables people to determine and achieve livelihood improvements. This includes making information available, because information reduces uncertainty and widens decision-making options [ 102 ]. One of many action-oriented and capacity-building initiatives of this project was aimed at occupational health and risk perception of waste pickers. The research involved six recycling cooperatives of the metropolitan region of São Paulo (two members per cooperative). The first author participated in the three research phases conducted between March and July 2011: mobilization, workshops, and feedback sessions, which generated the results of this intervention presented here. Research was obtained by the Human Research Ethics Board at the University of Victoria (Protocol number 05-129). During the mobilization, phase information about the research objectives was disseminated and recycling cooperative members were invited to participate in the workshops and agreed to become knowledge transmitters between the researchers and the other cooperative members. Throughout the second phase, five thematic workshops were conducted on occupational health and recycling cooperatives. The workshops involved brainstorming and active learning, applying collective mapping, acting, and drawing methods focused on possible risks and health hazards as well as respective strategies to overcome these. Participants listed the following categories in which they separate the materials ( Table 1 ).

Waste is separated into the following categories.

PET: Polyethylene terephthalate; HDPE: high-density polyethylene; PS: polystyrene; PP: polypropylene.

Interactive, creative arts-based methods (collective mapping, acting, and drawing, diagramming), were used to map key health hazards related to the work with household waste, based on the practical knowledge of the research participants ( Table 2 ). While the results reflect specific working conditions of these cooperatives, most risk factors identified are common to the majority of organized recycling groups in Brazil and are also relevant to waste pickers in other low- and middle-income countries. During the final feedback phase the findings were discussed with all cooperative members to receive their input. After this research intervention, several field visits and conversations with waste pickers in this region and in different cities in Brazil were conducted to get their feedback on health risks related to their work in the recycling cooperative or association.

Risk factor perception of organized waste pickers.

The quality of material separation at the household level is very important. Dirty or contaminated packaging bares diverse chemical and biological risks [ 26 , 27 ]. Packaging containing cleaning products, paint, dissolvent, etc. can become a health risk when there is direct contact with the liquids. Over time packaging containing food rests develop fungal growths and mould, which can still release airborne spores. One of the most common health problems linked to decaying organic matter are caused by aspergillomas , fungal balls that fix themselves in cavities such as the paranasal sinus.

Household waste containing organic materials attracts rats, cockroaches, and pigeons [ 103 ]. These animals are the source of many diseases. For example, pigeons are transmitters of Candidiasis (a yeast or fungus infection spread by pigeons), Tuberculosis, Giardiasis (is caused by an intestinal parasite Giardia found in contaminated food), Histoplasmosis (serious respiratory disease that can be fatal, especially in those with compromised immune systems, including children, transmitted when humans inhale the Histoplasma capsulatum fungus that grows in dried bird and bat droppings), or Salmonellosis (from droppings of pigeons). Leptospirosis is easily transmitted through inhalation or contact with infected animals’ tissue or rat urine. These risks can be reduced by frequent pest controls and better work place organization, not to mention provision of cleaner material at the household level.

The spaces where the separation of recyclable material happens, for example recycling cooperatives and associations, community recycling depots, as well as the scrap dealers’ or middlemen’ premises often don’t have adequate ventilation or present leaking roofs which promotes bacterial growth and the development of fungus, which can cause respiratory disease to the workers in this environment.

Sharp metal pieces or broken glass (e.g. from light bulbs or bottles) mixed in with household waste can originate cuts. In some cities, e.g. São Paulo, the waste management company uses compactor trucks for the selective waste collection, allowing larger volumes to be collected. This also results in high levels of broken glass and other crushed materials once the household recyclables arrive at the separation table in the cooperative or association. The Mega Central Carolina Maria Jesus , a large-scale recycling facility run by the city of São Paulo and operated in part with the work force of waste pickers, receives the selected waste collection from neighbourhoods in the South of the city São Paulo. This facility, in contrast to all waste picker cooperatives in the region, does not recover glass and the mixed in class is treated as waste and gets deposited at the landfill. Since the municipality uses compactor trucks for the collection of recyclables, the glass gets crushed and contaminates the load of materials collected, thus disqualifying a significant amount of these materials from recycling.

Household waste further contains a few other hazardous materials, such as electric and electronic items, cooking oil, batteries, fluorescent lamps, or other materials which bare specific health risks. Very few recycling centres and cooperatives are equipped to deal with these materials.

Addressing the health risks of waste pickers in their work spaces

Vaccination against infectious disease, including hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and tetanus, significantly reduce the risks related to being in touch with dirty and contaminated materials. The empirical data demonstrate that most recyclers are aware of the existence of anti-tetanus vaccination and yet many participants were not vaccinated. They alluded to vaccination locations not being easily accessible, or they did not see the urgency for themselves. Education and facilitated access to these vaccines is an important measure to prevent risks.

The use of gloves, protection goggles, and mouth protection is another possible measure to reduce health risks. Particularly for those recyclers working in waste separation, gloves and mouth protection helps prevent infectious disease. These protection measures also reduce the risks of cuts and accidents, specifically affecting the eyesight as happens with sharp materials, particularly broken glass. Nevertheless, access to personal protective equipment (gloves and mouth protection) is rare in this activity, and even if available, recyclers do not always wear the equipment. The participants mentioned that gloves prevent tactile perception and yet it is important to identify different types of materials, particularly plastics. For that reason, they don’t like to wear gloves. This problem could be solved by taking the tip of the thumb and index finger off of one glove to provide the ability to still identify materials while protecting most of the hand from contact with sharp objects and contaminated materials.

The overall risks related to the working conditions can be improved by mapping and addressing risks related to the physical work environment (including ground cover conditions, location of work equipment, work flow efficiency, illumination, ventilation). Every recycling group should undergo an assessment of their work flow and make adjustments. Furthermore, the waste pickers mentioned that the widespread exposure to pests, including rats, cockroaches, and pigeons, were serious health risk factors that urgently needed to be controlled. Local governments regularly run campaigns for pest eradication, and the recycling cooperatives and associations need to be targeted with these recurrent pest controls.

There are currently no specific public policies in place in Brazil to reduce health risks for waste pickers in informal household waste recycling. Informal recycling systems can be addressed with regulations facilitating co-production arrangements (collaboration of recycling cooperatives or associations with formal waste management programmes) which also tackle risks and hazards associated with waste [ 64 ]. The official recognition and formalization of the activities would protect the workers from health hazards [ 27 , 104 ]. Equally important are measures to improve the forms of disposal of hazardous waste, in order to manage the risks and reduce the hazards of people who are involved in the collection processes, particularly the informal waste pickers [ 104 ].

The International Labour organization (ILO) suggests training on health and safety for waste pickers and health check-ups and monitoring of children’s and adults’ health [ 105 ]. Although in several countries children are prohibited on landfills and recycling facilities, there are still many children involved in the activity of waste collection and separation. ILO recommendations to make the work of waste pickers safer include providing protection from hazards, suggesting the use of gloves, footwear and tools to sort waste, and also vaccination against tetanus [ 105 ].

Involving local stakeholders, particularly waste pickers, in household waste management can help improve waste collection and recycling and can reduce waste-borne hazards and vulnerabilities [ 106 , 107 ]. Waste pickers organized in unions, associations, cooperatives, or social enterprises can also act as environmental stewards, educating the population on clean source separation and on the recyclability of materials. Programmes can be established to assess and manage waste-related hazards in the communities [ 64 , 108 ].

Most waste pickers operate completely informal and are not related to any programme or organization. It is time for local governments to provide alternative options for those recyclers who have no opportunity to, or do not want to affiliate with a cooperative or an association. They are the most vulnerable group of waste workers, for usually comprising the most socially excluded and impoverished sector of society. Often the most vulnerable family members (children, women, and elderly) work under these informal conditions. Their stories need to be heard and taken into consideration when designing appropriate solutions for their recognition and inclusion in waste management. The following figure lists some of the protective measures that help reduce household waste-borne health hazards for waste pickers ( Figure 1 ).

Protection measures to reduce health hazards.

Addressing environmental health and vulnerabilities

Establishing door-to-door selective waste collection is a service that contributes to maximizing recycling rates and minimizing environmental hazards by avoiding inadequate waste discard. With their everyday activity of collecting materials for reuse and recycling, waste pickers are working towards resource recovery and are thus at the forefront of a significant change not just stressing waste collection but rather material reclamation. Their praxis is moving away from the growth-oriented logic of wasting towards an ethics of salvaging, recovering, and circularity.

During their interactions with households to collect recyclable materials, waste pickers often perform additional services, such as informing household members about which materials can be recycled, how to best separate and explain the significance of recycling to the environment. Waste pickers therefore are more than just collectors, and they have the skills and the potential to act as environmental stewards, with actively building awareness in the community.

For these tasks to become effective and the service reliable, municipal governments need to commit to a collaborative partnership in waste management. Most organized waste pickers require infrastructural support and capacity training in specific areas (e.g. administration, accounting, work-safe programmes). A set of incentives has been recommended for both private and public sectors for good partnerships in solid waste management service delivery [ 71 ]. They also suggest a careful analysis of the available theoretical and empirical data on public/private partnerships to minimize the related risks of these partnerships to negatively impact on vulnerable and marginalized populations [ 71 ]. Furthermore, environmental awareness and education programmes should target selective waste collection as a theme central to human and environmental health, targeting waste pickers and their organizations, communities, schools, child care centres, and health care centres. It is not enough to run occasional campaigns for selective waste collection. Continuous exposure to waste topics, through different media and using diverse methods (e.g. video, photography, theatre, Instagrams , and other social media), has the potential to create the desired effect of greater community engagement.

Conclusion and final considerations

In this paper, we have identified household waste-borne health risk factors and hazards and have discussed how these are affecting informal recyclers in low- and medium-income countries. We have particularly highlighted the perspectives of organized waste pickers who work in recycling cooperatives and associations. A literature review and empirical insights from research conducted in Brazil informs our discussion. Hazards linked to household waste affect the environment and particularly those who work with waste. Occupational health risks of informal and organized recyclers have not been well documented and more research needs to be done to better understand the health impacts of household waste collection and separation and to address these risks. Not only does household waste contain hazardous materials and toxic substances, but the process of collection, separation, and transportation in itself can also pose severe health hazards and risks to those working with waste.

The vulnerable groups, exposed to waste-borne hazards, include waste pickers and particularly those that are not organized, municipal and private waste collectors/workers, small waste traders and potentially the residents at large. Communities, watersheds, and ecosystems in general are affected by hazardous waste originated from both household and non-household sources. Those urban and peri-urban communities where household waste is not collected or where the collection is partial or insufficient are the most visible vulnerable places, where waste directly affects the people’ and animals’ health and the environmental conditions. Solid waste accumulating in open spaces, streets, waterways, and drainages is a hazard per se, being a breeding ground for fungus and pests, carrying disease vectors for humans and animals.

Studies are needed to identify low-cost solutions, appropriate to specific geographic and political contexts to facilitate the work of waste pickers as service providers, as environmental stewards and waste educators in the community. There is a need to assess the costs of hospitalization or treatment due to diseases, cuts, injuries, or other accidents, evaluating the losses and health damage to waste pickers and community members.

Our research recommends

• Proper incentives/subsidies to promote safe door-to-door collection of household waste.
• Continuous educational programmes to create awareness about clean and safe separation of household waste and the recyclability of certain materials contained in household waste.
• The implementation of safe collection praxis (e.g. collection with proper bicycle driven carts, electric carts, or trucks) and sorting procedures (different levels of automatization), diminishing the contact of the workers with waste.
• The generation of reliable statistics and baseline information on the socio-economic conditions and health situation of waste pickers to design and implement risk prevention programmes, continuous workers' health monitoring and research/educational activities from local to national levels.
• Good waste governance on the local, regional, and national levels.

More research is needed to explore the wide-ranging ways in which household waste poses health threats to the environment and for those who manipulate waste and recyclables. Research can help identify those practices which are most efficient to reduce household waste-borne hazards and vulnerabilities particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Knowledge mobilization is critical for best practices in inclusive and sustainable waste management to be disseminated and for health conditions of waste pickers – the most vulnerable group in contact with waste – and the urban and suburban environment to significantly improve. Probably the best grassroots innovation we have seen in 2017, in improving waste pickers’ health, has been the experience of MTE Lanús Cooperativa Carton y Justicia in greater Buenos Aires, Argentina. The cooperative employs a permanent health worker as part of the team, responsible for overlooking occupational health and risks in the cooperative, for example promoting vaccination, work space cleanliness, health information, health enhancing, and proactive measures (e.g. specific mother/child or elderly programmes). Since the implementation of this programme, the cooperative was able to reduce workers’ absence due to health issues and an overall increase in workers’ well-being and work productivity. These are small steps which can have huge impacts on waste pickers' health.

Funding Statement

This work was supported by the Canadian International Development Agency: [Grant Number S61268-571/I].

Acknowledgements

Without the many conversations and interactions with waste pickers in different parts of the world and without their everyday expert knowledge, this paper could not have been written. We are deeply grateful for their insights and stories. We also would like to acknowledge the many discussions and learning experiences with colleagues in Brazil, including Nidia N. Pontuschka, Angela M. Baeder, Sonia M. N. Felipone, and Tereza L. F. dos Santos. Finally, we want to thank the reviewers and editors of the Journal for their valuable suggestions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

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Household Risk Management

Households' insurance against shocks to income and asset values (that is, household risk management) is limited, especially for poor households. We argue that a trade-off between intertemporal financing needs and insurance across states explains this basic insurance pattern. In a model with limited enforcement, we show that household risk management is increasing in household net worth and income, incomplete, and precautionary. These results hold in economies with income risk, durable goods and collateral constraints, and durable goods price risk, under quite general conditions and, remarkably, risk aversion is sufficient and prudence is not required. In equilibrium, collateral scarcity lowers the interest rate, reduces insurance, and increases inequality.

We thank Ing-Haw Cheng (WFA discussant), João Cocco (NBER discussant), Mariacristina De Nardi (NBER discussant), Emmanuel Farhi, Nobu Kiyotaki, David Laibson, David Martinez-Miera (CEPR discussant), Alex Michaelides, Martin Oehmke (AFA discussant), Tomek Piskorski (AEA discussant), Alp Simsek (Wash U discussant), Jeremy Stein, Roberto Steri (FIRS discussant), George Zanjani, and seminar participants at the AEA Annual Meeting, Duke, the NBER-Oxford Sa d-CFS-EIEF Conference on Household Finance, the HBS Finance Unit Research Retreat, the Asian Meeting of the Econometric Society, MIT, UC Berkeley, Harvard, USC, the WFA Annual Conference, the SED Annual Meeting, the Bank of Canada and Queen's University Workshop on Real-Financial Linkages, Cheung Kong GSB, Cornell, DePaul, Princeton, BYU, Carnegie Mellon, Indiana, Wharton, Chicago, Amsterdam, UCL, Imperial College, Warwick, the CEPR European Summer Symposium in Financial Markets, the Washington University Conference on Corporate Finance, the AFA Annual Meeting, Houston, Minnesota, Illinois, Virginia, the Conference in Honor of Robert M. Townsend, the FIRS Conference, and the NBER SI on Capital Markets and the Economy for helpful comments. Part of this paper was written while the first author was visiting the finance area at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the economics department at Harvard University and their hospitality is gratefully acknowledged. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

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Qualitative Research in Financial Markets

ISSN : 1755-4179

Article publication date: 17 February 2023

Issue publication date: 2 November 2023

The objective of this systematic literature review (SLR) is to explore the current state of research in the field of household finance (HF). This study aims to summarize the existing research to highlight the importance of household finance in a nation’s economy. By exploring all conceptual and applied implications of HF, this study projects directions for future research to develop a comprehensive understanding of the subject.

Design/methodology/approach

This SLR is based on 112 articles published in peer-reviewed journals between 2006 and 2020 (Table 3). The methodology comprises five steps, namely, formulation of research questions, identification of studies, their selection and evaluation, analyses and syntheses and presentation of results.

The findings of this study show that studies on HF are gradually increasing worldwide with the USA registering the highest number of published research on the topic during the period under scrutiny. Notwithstanding the increasing attention and research on HF, empirical research in emerging economies is lagging. Additionally, this study finds that HF structure presents a perfect setting to understand how households compose their financial portfolio, make financial decisions and what factors influence their decisions.

Research limitations/implications

This study is an SLR – an accurate and accepted method of reviewing available literature on a selected subject. However, the selection of inclusion and exclusion criteria depends on the researchers’ rationale which might lead to research bias. This should be considered an inherent limitation of SLR.

Practical implications

By synthesizing the contents of extant literature, this study presents important insights into HF. This study underlines the most discussed topics in the domain and identifies potential investigation areas. This study gives the knowledge of leading articles, authors and journals and informs scholars and academicians about the areas that need further investigation by portraying the complete picture of the subject in a systematic manner. Further, this study highlights that households make suboptimal financial decisions that affect their financial well-being. To reduce the adverse impacts of these decisions, policymakers and financial institutions must take steps to improve households’ use of formal financial markets. Household decisions can be reformed by enhancing consumers’ knowledge about financial products and services. Furthermore, households can be served better by offering customization in traditional financial products.

Originality/value

This study synthesizes the main findings of selected literature on HF. The expansion of studies on HF has generated the need to review the existing literature in a systematic manner. To the researchers’ best knowledge, this SLR is the first thorough study of available articles in the HF domain. This study presents the scope of future research by highlighting numerous aspects and functions of HF.

• Household finance
• Systematic literature review
• Portfolio choice
• Household financial decision-making

Zehra, N. and Singh, U.B. (2023), "Household finance: a systematic literature review and directions for future research", Qualitative Research in Financial Markets , Vol. 15 No. 5, pp. 841-887. https://doi.org/10.1108/QRFM-11-2021-0186

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BLM helps conduct groundbreaking research on wildlife and solar development

The Bureau of Land Management, Farmington Field Office, is partnering with Wildlands Network and other important collaborators to conduct groundbreaking research on the impact of solar development on wildlife, specifically pronghorn, in northern New Mexico.

Renewable energy sources like wind and solar are increasing in development all around the country as a means of safe and continuous carbon-neutral alternatives. According to the Department of Energy, more than ten million acres are predicted to be developed for renewable energy in the U.S. by 2050. By last year, $382 billion had already been invested in solar development alone.

Of course, this requires the construction of facilities needed to harness and distribute that energy. The fencing required as part of these facilities is designed to prevent entry by unauthorized humans, but consequently also prevents passage for larger animals. It presents a potentially major barrier to the movements of wildlife. Very little is known about the impact these facilities could have on wildlife herds, such as pronghorn, and their habitats. In the Farmington area, very little is known about the habits of these animals at all.

“Other than what people just see when they’re out there, there’s not a lot of data on herds,” said BLM Wildlife Biologist Ryan McBee. “It’s groundbreaking. There’s not a lot of info here. What’s the population? What do they do? Where do they go?”

Asking similar question was Wildlands Network Senior Wildlife Biologist, Aaron Facka, who grew up in the Farmington area and wanted to know what impact the development of solar energy facilities could have on wildlife. “These pronghorn herds regularly cross a variety of state, federal, Tribal and private lands, which has made it really difficult to both study and manage them. said Facka. “With the pending rapid deployment of solar across all of these jurisdictions, it’s become urgent for us to understand how they’re using the landscape and interacting with these developments so that we can minimize those impacts.”

To address these questions, Facka, along with McBee  and collaborators from Navajo Nation, Ute Mountain Ute, New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, and others, secured funding from the U.S. Department of Energy for a four-year study. The goal is to collect data on the effect of solar development on wildlife and provide e that data to agencies and developers, to inform the siting of future projects. This way, developers could factor wildlife considerations into siting and design prior to construction, hopefully mitigating any long-term effects.

To understand these impacts, the BLM,Wildlands Network, and their additional collaborators are using several  techniques and technologies to research pronghorn populations, habitat needs and herd movements before and after solar development over the course of four years. Methods include GPS collars, trail cameras, drone surveys and on-site surveys.

Data from GPS collars is uploaded to an internal system, giving researchers real-time information of where herds move and how they interact with solar facilities prior to and after construction. The team also deployed nearly 100 trail cameras to photograph herd movements, which are checked monthly.

“The way solar facilities are constructed, it’s not always just a single block. They often include potential pathways or corridors that wildlife may or may not use,” said Facka. “This gives us a lot of information. Do they use the pathways or do they completely avoid these facilities?”

Once this information is collected and analyzed, it will be used to advise other agencies, land managers and, most importantly, developers. The data can be used when planning construction and facility placement, providing a long-term and efficient method to help design solar developments in a way that proactively addresses these concerns and helps preserve and protect wildlife.

“We can say ‘Hey, this is what we’re looking at,” said McBee. “Maybe there’s a way we can allow for developments to happen while not having significant impacts on wildlife as much as possible.”

Aside from that, this project has also opened up unique opportunities with Tribal partners. As these wildlife populations also roam their lands, those communities have similar considerations. Tribal communities also expect solar development on their lands as a means of renewable power, and they don’t always have the resources to complete this type of research on their own, making them a critical partner in this endeavor.

As of March 1, 2024, 30 GPS collars have been attached to pronghorn in northern New Mexico, and are already providing data, adding to the list of tools land managers are equipped with to manage wildlife.

“We hope to better understand the relationship between wildlife and renewable energy developments on public lands,” said McBee.”

Photos provided by Wildlands Network.

Darren Scott, Public Affairs Specialist

Blog Topic:

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The Creativity Decline: Evidence from US Patents

Working Paper 2024-008A by Aakash Kalyani

Economists have long struggled to understand why aggregate productivity growth has dropped in recent decades while the number of new patents filed has steadily increased. I offer an explanation for this puzzling divergence: the creativity embodied in US patents has dropped dramatically over time. To separate creative from derivative patents, I develop a novel, text-based measure of patent creativity: the share of technical terminology that did not appear in previous patents. I show that only creative and not derivative patents are associated with significant improvements in firm level productivity. Using the measure, I show that inventors on average file creative patents upon entry, and file derivative patents with more experience. I embed this life-cycle of creativity in a growth model with endogenous creation and imitation of technologies. In this model, falling population growth explains 27% of the observed decline in patent creativity, 30% of the slowdown in productivity growth, and 64% of the increase in patenting.

Read Full Text

https://doi.org/10.20955/wp.2024.008

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Office: Vehicle Technologies Office FOA number:  DE-FOA-0003248 Link to apply:  Apply on EERE Exchange FOA Amount: $45,800,000

Today, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced $45.8 million in new funding for projects that will advance research, development, demonstration, and deployment (RDD&D) critical to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector. The funding will drive innovation in equitable clean transportation and is aligned with strategies detailed in the U.S. National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization . 

The funding is through DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). Topic areas in the Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 R&D funding opportunity include:

• Next-generation phosphate-based cathodes.
• Advancing the state of the art for sodium-ion batteries.
• Developing concepts for decreasing greenhouse gas emissions from off-road vehicles such as construction, agriculture, mining, and forestry vehicles.
• Developing and deploying vehicle-to-everything technologies that can lead to meaningful savings at the vehicle and transportation system level.
• Developing high-performance, domestically produced electrical steels (E-steels) for use in electrified powertrains.
• Addressing critical cybersecurity needs for smart and secure electric vehicle charging.

As part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to ensuring the benefits of a clean transportation system are shared equally, the funding seeks the participation of underserved communities and underrepresented groups. Applicants are required to describe how diversity, equity, and inclusion objectives will be incorporated into their project. 

VTO provides a series of funding opportunity announcement (FOA) information session videos , which help applicants understand VTO’s FOA process and requirements. The recently released, Session 3: Tips for a Strong FOA Application, includes best practices for incorporating Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in a project.

Learn more about this and other funding opportunities on VTO’s funding webpage . 

Topic Areas

Topic Area 1: Next-Generation Phosphate-Based Cathodes

This topic area targets the development of phosphate-based cathode materials that surpass the performance of state-of-the-art lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathode materials, which are currently gaining traction as an alternative low-cost solution. The primary objective of this area of interest is to develop high energy density battery cells containing phosphate-based cathodes at the material and cell level.

Topic Area 2: Na-ion Battery Seedling Projects for Electric Vehicle Applications

While shifting to alternative cathode materials like LFP can alleviate the impact of nickel and cobalt, the impact of lithium has not been adequately addressed. One alternative to lithium is sodium (Na). While there is much promise for Na-ion chemistries, key issues still limit their adoption. This objective of this topic area is to advance the state of the art for Na-ion batteries by solving key challenges for the cathode, anode, or electrolyte through the development of 1 Ah full cells utilizing cell chemistries that are significant advancements over current industry state-of-the-art Na-ion technology.

Topic Area 3: Low-GHG Concepts for Off-Road Vehicles

The objective of this topic area is to develop and validate technology concepts capable of significantly decreasing greenhouse gas emissions, energy use, harmful criteria emissions, and total cost of ownership across the entire off-road vehicle sector, including construction, agriculture, mining, forestry, ports, warehouses, etc. Concepts must demonstrate they can meet the unique requirements for off-road vehicles and gain customer acceptance.

Topic Area 4: Saving Energy with Connectivity

Research has shown that vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications can lead to meaningful energy savings at the vehicle and transportation system level by integrating interoperable vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), and vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) communications. The objective of this topic area is to develop and deploy V2X technologies with a focus on the efficiency and convenience of the mobility ecosystem, while reducing transportation’s environmental impacts. Examples could include but are not limited to eco-driving along connected corridors, transit or freight priority, integrated corridor management, or passenger or freight trip-chaining optimization.

Topic Area 5: Domestically Produced Electrical Steels (E-Steels)

The US transportation sector is in a technology revolution where light-duty vehicles are rapidly transitioning from internal combustion engines to electrified powertrains. Although most of the vehicles are produced in the US, many of the powertrain components rely on imports and foreign supply chains. Of particular interest are traction motors and their components. The objective of this topic are is to develop E-Steels meeting properties including frequency, thickness, ductility, cost, and manufacturability. 

Topic Area 6: Cybersecurity for Smart and Secure Electric Vehicle Charging

This topic area is addressing critical cybersecurity needs to address through two subtopics: 

• Subtopic 6.a: Enabling Wide-scale, Cybersecure EV/EVSE Aggregation for Grid Services :  To support the integration of electric vehicles (EVs) and their charging requirements with the electric grid, both government and the private sector have made significant investments in the development of smart charge management (SCM) systems and technologies for EV charging infrastructure. The objective of this subtopic area is to research, develop, and demonstrate systems, technologies, and tools necessary for the cybersecure aggregation of EVs and charging infrastructure to provide widescale, cybersecure grid services.
• Subtopic 6.b: Tools to Assess EV/EVSE/Charging System Cybersecurity Posture and Compliance with Standards and Protocols for Communications, Controls, and Monitoring :   Testing and evaluation of Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) by DOE national laboratories has clearly indicated a lack of compliance by many vendors with certified and/or regulated EV charging standards and protocols. In addition to creating cybersecurity vulnerabilities, this non-compliance greatly inhibits interoperability, supplier-managed SCM, and right-to-repair. The objective of this subtopic is to research, develop, and validate a suite of tools and associated procedures to comprehensively assess EV/EVSE/charging system compliance with relevant standards and protocols and cybersecurity posture.

Additional Information

• Download the full funding opportunity  on the EERE Exchange website.
• For FOA-specific support, contact  [email protected] . 
• Sign up for the  Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) funding email list  to get notified of new EERE funding opportunities. Also sign up for  VTO’s newsletter to stay current with the latest news.
• Watch the VTO Funding Opportunity Announcement information series webinars.