Determinants of household’s intention of practicing sustainable food waste management in Malaysia

Abstract

Abstract The issue of food waste continues to be a challenge especially when it comes to practicing sustainable food waste management in Malaysia. Much attention is needed to overcome the issue of food waste in order to make changes towards the current situation. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the factors related to the urban households’ intention towards sustainable food waste management in Malaysia. Data from 200 respondents was collected through an online survey using purposive sampling method. Thereafter, factor analysis was adopted to analyze the relationship between the factors influencing the intention of households to practice sustainable food waste management. Descriptive analysis showed that respondents from the survey had high intention of practicing sustainable food waste management and the majority of the respondents claimed that it would reduce environmental harm. Based on the factor analysis, the determinants related to the households’ intention of practicing sustainable food waste management were attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control, and intention of reducing food waste. To curb the growing issues of food waste, local authorities have implemented various strategies and campaigns to create awareness as well as ensuring practices to reduce local food waste, such as waste segregation laws, building anaerobic digesters for food courts, composting facilities, the MY Save Food initiative, and others. However, the efforts and the efficiency of the local authority to minimize local food waste are still under observation. Perhaps, all levels of the community should increase their cooperation to provide the drive towards a zero-food waste culture in Malaysia.