Students' Preferences for Electronic Waste Collection: A Conjoint Analysis

Date

5-2025

Degree

Bachelor of Science in Economics

College

College of Economics and Management (CEM)

Adviser/Committee Chair

Jaimie Kim B. Arias

Committee Member

Deborah B. Gay, Gideon P. Carnaje, Maria Angeles O. Catelo

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Abstract

E-waste is a rapidly growing waste stream with substantial potential for urban mining, offering a valuable source of secondary raw materials. Despite this opportunity, collection and recycling rates cannot keep pace with e-waste generation. In response to this problem, this study examined the preferences of undergraduate students at the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) for e-waste collection services using ratings-based conjoint analysis. This method determines the relative importance of attributes and the most preferred category for each attribute. Through homogeneous purposive sampling, 52 Econ 11 students were surveyed, yielding 832 observations. Findings show that data safety guarantee was the most influential attribute with a relative importance of 68.2%, increasing preference ratings by 2.2981 on the average. Among collector identities, non-profit organization (NGO) was the most preferred, followed by local government unit (LGU), while electronic retailer had a negative and insignificant effect on preference ratings. Interestingly, collection during specific dates was more preferred than monthly collection. In contrast, weekly collection had an insignificant effect on ratings. Respondents also showed a preference for monetary compensation over in-kind benefits. Lastly, door-to- door pick-up mode of collection had a positive but statistically insignificant effect. This study concludes that students highly prioritize secure data handling, prefer cash incentives, and trust institutional collectors. However, with a response rate of only 11.66% and the use of a non-random sampling technique, the findings are limited to the sample and cannot be generalized to the broader population. Nevertheless, insights generated by this study can serve as a reference for future research exploring preferences for e-waste collection.

Language

English

LC Subject

Electronic waste—Management

Location

UPLB College of Economics and Management (CEM)

Call Number

LG 993.5 2025 E2 D59

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Document Type

Thesis

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