Research Proposal Presentation Title

Investigation in how to improve waste management in the City of Vancouver

Student researchers

Gina Choi

Zhiwei Yi (Sarah)

What is your research question?

How can the City of Vancouver improve upon its waste management practices？

Research proposal keywords or concepts

waste management, sustainability, Zero-Waste-2040

How would you summarize your proposed research idea?

The city of Vancouver is currently working towards the goal of ‘Zero Waste 2040’. ‘Zero Waste 2040’ is Vancouver's long-lasting vision for achieving zero waste by 2040. We hope to find out the improvement and places of the city of Vancouver’s waste management practices for future benefits for Vancouver’s environment and make people’s lives better in an eco-friendly way.

Where is the literature gap and how does your proposed research attempt to fill that gap?

Previous research indicates UBC is performing astonishingly on solid waste management and hazardous waste management, etc (Brinkhurst et al., 2011). Most studies of waste management in Canada were only executed using major areas such as Metro Vancouver, but rarely highlight the City of Vancouver’s waste management practices. A quantitative approach will be used to investigate the waste management practices of the City of Vancouver.

Why is this gap worthy of research?

By filling this gap, the city of Vancouver's current policy on waste management can be identified. Therefore, we can further improve the city of Vancouver. Starting from our closest place, this could have a potential contribution to society as a whole.

What future change could this research possibly contribute to, related to sustainability?

The findings of this study could contribute to environmental sustainability, as a better waste management practice will lead to a slow-down of climate change; possibly being a model for other places. Furthermore, economic sustainability might be achieved if the suggestion at the conclusion includes new job opportunities for people.

What made your group interested in and/or what excites you about your proposed topic?

After seeing that Vancouver has a strict garbage classification, We became very interested in waste management (Zelenika, I., Moreau, T., & Zhao, J., 2018). We realized UBC is also one of the most eco-friendly universities in the world. As UBC is located in the City of Vancouver, our curiosity led us to generate this research topic. We anticipated the findings of this study would allow us to obtain the views citizens of the city of Vancouver have toward the waste management and sustainability goals. Also, it will be good evidence showing the degree to which the sustainability goal is integrated into the society of the city of Vancouver.

References

Brinkhurst, M., Rose, P., Maurice, G., & Ackerman, J. D. (2011). Achieving campus sustainability: Top-down, bottom-up, or neither? International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 12(4), 338-354. https://doi.org/10.1108/14676371111168269

Giroux Environmental Consulting. (2014). State of Waste Management in Canada [Ebook] (p. 41). Retrieved February 22, 2021, from https://www.ccme.ca/files/Resources/waste/wst_mgmt/State_Waste_Mgmt_in_Canada%20April%202015%20revised.pdf

Zelenika, I., Moreau, T., & Zhao, J. (2018). Towards zero-waste events: Reducing contamination in waste streams with volunteer assistance. Waste Management (Elmsford), 76, 39-45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2018.03.030