*4.4. Recommendations to Enhance R&SS Participation*

Considering all parameters discussed in 4.2. and 4.3., the authors made the following recommendations:

In order to increase the willingness of households to participate in sustainable practices, an education programme with an effective feedback loop system via internet communication technology is essential [17]. There are a few key elements in this system. First, a reactive feedback platform (online message, calls, and emails) answers to any uncertainty during waste sorting—a live version of gomi (Japanese word of "garbage") guide—becoming an ultimate go-to reference for waste sorting. This can improve households' perception of how easy R&SS can be carried out. Second, concise and practical information or knowledge is fed through push notifications to spark smaller actions. This further allows households (especially waste handlers) to react positively towards R&SS, as small actions do not incur heavy costs. Lastly, networking platforms allow households to share success stories and motivation. This can cultivate positive peer pressure and redefine subjective norms of the community to manifest the fact that their effort can make a difference.

Meanwhile, religious and dialect associations are groups that could bring households together, mobilise them and empower them to accomplish a mission. Households that are relatively able to placed their trust in these associations and dialogue can be easily initiated when two groups share similar social-cultural backgrounds [58]. Furthermore, as demonstrated by the community in Pulau Pangkor through authors' observation and interviews with the local NGO, a deep trust is the key driving factor for the third party to be able to encourage better participation in R&SS practices among households. This trust

is formed when people share a common vision through long-term communication and engagement. By doing so, it allows both parties to easily unite under a common interest or goal when they have achieved the same ideology. A higher success rate is guaranteed with stronger social capital and creative social innovation [58]. This social innovation is important for the community to urge local authority to facilitate an enabling environment for R&SS implementation.

Environmental activities such as recycling and composting are best started off from these associations while utilising their facilities, as they have set up optimum conditions for community-driven projects. For instance, in Sentul, Kuala Lumpur, a Sikh community realised that a huge amount of biodegradable waste was being generated through their religious activities. This encouraged them to initiate a composting movement in reusing food and garden waste around their neighbourhood, while at the same time utilising the space around its religious facility [59]. It has also attracted families to join the action to contribute to waste reduction.

Regarding this example, the local authority can be the intermediary to connect the community with various sectors that require R&SS services or products. For instance, the compost produced by the community can be sold to agriculture-related sectors (e.g., farm or plantation within or outside the district) via the local authority. The local authority can also take up a role as an enabler to provide various resources, including space and location, information such as waste composition and waste handling within a community, as well as regulations such as legislative by-laws and guidelines for proper practice and implementation. Merits or incentives should be introduced to those who make a significant impact on minimising the waste, thus reinforcing their actions and advocating change.

The outcomes of R&SS should be widespread, providing both environmental as well as economic benefits. Households should be constantly reminded of this knowledge to shape their attitude slowly but surely. Waste management is a service delivery; the expenditure should be wisely spent to achieve a more productive result within a limited budget. Therefore, it is important to let households know that R&SS implementation can significantly reduce the amount of waste that has been sent to landfills, increasing the lifespan of landfills, and thus saving municipal budgets.

Furthermore, the authors in [60] have revealed that it is important for local authorities to stay financially feasible and sustainable through cost recovery, such as from transportation cost saving through lesser intervals as less generated waste is being sent to landfill. The authors in [61] support this idea by suggesting the R&SS industry collaborate with local authorities to improve the efficiency of recycled waste processing. Cost recovery can also be carried out by formulating by-laws under the "polluter-pays-principle" for private corporations or companies and business owners to partake in improving the waste management mechanism as part of their social responsibility. This will optimally reduce the trade-offs of any non-essential waste generation in commercial industry and household purchases. Meanwhile, pro-environmental product design guidelines should be formulated by environmental agencies and endorsed by local authorities for product manufacturers to comply with.

The current annual report of the Manjung Municipal Council has revealed no information regarding the expenditure of the service delivered. It is crucial for the local authority to share their expenditure (to be transparent throughout the administration) via effective means such as Gender Responsive and Participatory Budgeting (GRPB). GRPB has been practised by Penang's state and local governments with the collaboration of Penang Women's Development Corporation as an effective tool in making the budget gender responsive prudent and, most importantly, sustainable [62]. As this type of activity is voluntary-based, households' participation can determine how their tax can be used to create other public benefits from the budget they have saved through R&SS implementation, improving their willingness to be involved.

Small actions are negligible and simple but vital to shape good behavioural change in the long run. These small actions include everyday actions such as putting reusable containers or shopping bags in the usual hand carry or the vehicle itself, saying "no" to plastics, and more. Furthermore, they require constant reminders to eventually develop a habit over time. This can help those who experience difficulties in changing and adapting to a huge change in their waste management pattern. To amplify this effect, the surrounding environment should also be designed to influence consumers, such as designing signage at the doorstep to remind oneself to bring reusables before leaving the house when takeaway is planned. Essential destinations such as schools and the workplace, where people spend a significant number of hours in, should also be redesigned. Small tips or life hacks are essential to foster creative thinking upon negligible things or happenings in life to ensure these small actions become a routine and habit [63]. This strategy can be widely promoted using both online and offline platforms (considering not all households have access to online networks).

The survey findings reveal that most of the respondents acknowledged the importance of environmental syllabus in schools and universities. These educational facilities should raise the impact of their education and research by providing the know-how for effective implementation [64]. The knowledge transfer and skill training of formal education has a great influence among youth who are more flexible towards changes in their lifestyle [48,65]. The attitude is more effectively shaped at a younger age and recognition should be given (preferably by the government or relevant industrial players) to reward their effort and strengthen their intention to commit to R&SS practices. Besides classroom teaching and social activities, competitions (public speaking, essay writing, art- and craft-related events, photography, or videography) should be held to boost the capacity, as well as interpersonal skills of the students at all ages, especially sixth formers (pre-university) and undergraduates. Placing young children in a more competitive ground can also strengthen their intentions to advocate for the cause they believe in. Youth ambassadors in promoting R&SS practices can be one of the latest trends to promote households' participation, as young leaders often appear more inspiring and exhibit greater charisma to foster social innovations. Nevertheless, the quality of persuasion should be governed to ensure quality information processing.

It will be difficult for these recommendations to achieve optimum results if the external factors are not taken into consideration. An effective support system throughout waste management stages must be built to provide a convenient environment for households to conduct R&SS by increasing the accessibility to such services. Households' waste storage system should expand along with the waste collection system. By indicating a specific day for a specific waste category collection, households can save time for waste transportation to recycling vendors, maximising ease and convenience. With the effective feedback loop system, households can sort waste correctly, while weight can be recorded into the same system (mobile application) for further network and database establishment.

During the pandemic, the new normal indeed reshaped people's lifestyles, especially considering that digital transformation has influenced how people eat, shop, and pay bills. Manjung Municipal Council has developed a mobile application, myMANJUNG, for tax collection and bill payment [66]. This intervention can be included into the system for constructive management (e.g., ability to identify ownership of sorted waste and accountability). Nevertheless, this improvement requires consistent monitoring and evaluation by trained human resources, whether through a law enforcer hired by the municipality or collaboration with NGOs (NPOs) or community associations. Tangible incentives such as vouchers or cash rebates (based on the total weight of the sorted waste collected) can reinforce households' actions by eliminating hesitancy in visualising R&SS benefits (economic). Taiwan implements an integrated waste management system, which is designed to provide households with great support to recycle and separate waste conveniently. Frequent waste collection and households can track the service trucks in real time through mobile application. These service trucks accept wide waste categories, including biodegradable waste. Designated garbage bags are used to implement a Pay as You Throw (PAYT) scheme to incorporate the responsibility of households in waste reduction [67]. This integrated

waste management system can effortlessly maximise the possibility of R&SS integration and transition from non-sanitary landfill to sustainable waste management.

Finally, the throw-away culture should end through the enforcement of law, an example from Shanghai mandatory waste separation in 2019. However, due to political complications, the local authority can instead implement a by-law to restrict non-essential product consumption. For instance, Penang has increased the price of a plastic bag from RM0.20 to RM1.00, suggesting that people can no longer take this convenience for granted [68]. A higher cost will be incurred for more damage inflicted towards the environment (more waste generated). This is necessary for households to abstain from using unsustainable products and ultimately revise their purchasing decisions. The ideal situation is the total ban of non-essential products (e.g., single-use and disposable plastic) by shifting focus and business models to the circular economy [3,6,9]; at the same time, society should be prepared with adequate knowledge and a convenient environment in which to practice R&SS with continuous motivation or feelings of commitment [33,39].
