FROM PLATE TO WASTE: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF DETERMINANTS ON HOUSEHOLD FOOD WASTE BEHAVIOR IN PASIR GUDANG, JOHOR
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35631/JTHEM.1145023Keywords:
Community Culture, Food Waste, Food Waste BehaviourAbstract
Focusing on the urban-industrial township of Pasir Gudang, Johor, this quantitative study explores why local adults wate food at home. The research aligns directly with Malaysia’s RMK13 national agenda and the targets of Sustainable Development Goal 12. Utilising the Theory of Planned Behaviour as a framework, data were collected from 89 respondents via a dual-mode snowball sampling approach and analysed using multiple linear regression. The findings reveal that residents' attitudes and community culture are significant predictors, collectively explaining 44.3% of the variance in food waste behaviour. Attitude emerged as the most dominant influence, indicating that internal moral evaluations of waste as ethically wrong are primary drivers for reduction, nevertheless, community culture highlights the role of social pressures and communal over-preparation in shaping waste habits. Despite limitations in sample size and generalizability, the research provides a methodologically sound foundation for localised interventions, suggesting that policymakers prioritise fostering anti-waste community norms and ethical commitment to mitigate Malaysia's annual household food waste of over 3 million tonnes.
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