Residents' Perceptions of the Visual Quality of On-Site Waste Storage Bins in Kuching

Abstract

On-site storage of waste can be convenient to the waste generators especially to those who generate large amount of wastes every day. Concerns regarding public health and aesthetics considerations of the on-site storage of wastes have also arisen due to the use of unsightly makeshift containers or open ground storage. There has been extensive research conducted to improve the understanding of aesthetic qualities of' natural landscapes. Nevertheless, research on resident’s visual preferences and concerns for solid waste management facilities is still limited. Therefore, the ultimate goal of this study is to understand the perceived visual aesthetic quality of on-site storage facilities of wastes at collection points in Kuching District. A survey was conducted in August 2009 using a set of questionnaire consisting of several sections with 60 closed-ended questions, including questions with Likert scales. Since the official privatization of solid waste management in Kuching, the concession company has been providing uniform mobile garbage bins of standard sizes to residents and commercial areas. This has gradually improved the solid waste management systems. In general, the solid waste management problems in Kuching city are perceived to be moderately serious. Other than that only overflowing wastes at containers is the main problem that creates visual pollution. The highest mean ratings/or the visual assessment were 3.43 (physical attribute -clean), 4.60 (feelings –comfortable), and 3.34 (appraisal -attractive). It was also found that the photographs showing the mobile garbage bins provided by the concessionaire had the highest mean ratings for all three scales, i.e. descriptive, affective and appraisal scales. © 2016 The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK.. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, UniversitiTeknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21834/aje-bs.v1i1.170 Keywords: Visual quality, on-site storage, waste bins, solid waste management, Kuching