Market vendor involvement in the rotary bio-waste composter design: the case of Baguio City, Philippines

Abstract

Bio-waste generation in public markets is affected by the influx of people coming in due to the variety of products available. However, a large volume of these products often gets spoiled on-site. While there is a plethora of research on management schemes for bio-wastes, limited studies address the design of composters for market wastes. Thus, this study was conducted to develop a bio-waste composter involving the knowledge, attitude, and perception of market vendors. Through the participation of 225 market vendors that have responded in the survey, it was revealed that there is a low level of compliance with composting activity in the market, despite the majority of the participants manifesting knowledge of the open composting method. The design of a rotary composter was conceptualized based on the participants’ perception, which focused on essential components of natural decomposition, such as aeration, mixing, odor control, and temperature. Finally, a waste management framework was constructed that is geared towards a circular economy at the micro-scale level to realize the potential of this study. Indeed, the conducted study yielded an interesting interchange of the participants’ knowledge, attitude, and perception that have led to the development of a waste management system using simple methods.