HANOI UNIVERSITY

Km 9 Nguyen Trai Road, Thanh Xuan Bac, Thanh

FOUNDATION STUDIES
Xuan District, Hanoi – Vietnam
DEPARTMENT
Telephone: (84 4) 8544338, Facsimile: (84 4) 8544550
ROOM 106 – BUILDING E
Email: hufs@netnam.vn, Website: www.hufs.edu.vn
TEL:
-------------------------------------
ESP – WRITING A RESEARCH REPORT

Statement of authorship

Students’ names: Vũ Tú Uyên and Nguyễn Phương Nhi

Class: 3K21-ACN Student Number:
Subject: ESP Writing
Lecturer: Trịnh Thị Nha Trang
Names of research paper: HANOI UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ GARBAGE SORTING HABIT

Declaration
I declare that the work attached is entirely my own, and that I have given due acknowledgement
as required by the Foundation Studies Department.
I understand that the work submitted may be reproduced and/ or communicated for the purposes
of detecting plagiarism.
Signed Date 1st Jun, 2022

Plagiarism
By signing the declaration, you are stating that you have not plagiarized.
Use the following as a checklist.
 This work is entirely my own.
 I have not copied another student’s work.
 I have not copied or used in any way material from a text, journal, website or
other published source without acknowledgement (including non – English
sources).
 I have cited and referenced fully and correctly as required by the Foundation
Studies Department where applicable.
 I have not reworded material from another source and presented it as my own.
 I have not used this work in a previous class (self – plagiarism).

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 HANOI UNIVERSITY
FOUNDATION STUDIES DEPARTMENT
-------oOo-------

HANOI UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’

GARBAGE SORTING HABIT

Students: Nguyen Phuong Nhi

Vu Tu Uyen
Lecturer: Trinh Thi Nha Trang
Class: 3K21
Course: ESP Writing
Date: 1st Jun, 2022

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 ABSTRACT
The need for effective waste management is an important environmental and public health
issue. As an important way to reduce waste, segregation at source has in recent years become
the center of discussion and research. Therefore, our project team conducted a small study to
investigate the students' garbage sorting behavior on the Hanoi university campus and draw
out the motivation behind those behaviors of the students. A 9-question questionnaire-based
survey was conducted and completed with over 100 valid responses. Based on the data
obtained from this survey in combination with reviewed literature, it is possible to make
assessments about students' garbage sorting habits, identify factors related to the problem,
and at the same time find out its benefits. Besides, this research also provides some possible
solutions to encourage people to build a garbage sorting habit. As such, it is hoped that this
empirical research could be a useful reference for students to get better academic results.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
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ABSTRACT.............................................................................................................................iii
LIST OF FIGURES.................................................................................................................iv
1. Introduction.......................................................................................................................1
2. Method................................................................................................................................2
3. Results.............................................................................................................................2
4. Discussion of findings........................................................................................................6
4.1. The extent to which Hanoi University sort garbage.......................................................6
4.2. The motivations to Hanoi University’s students keep their habit of sorting garbage...6
4.3. The benefits of sorting garbage......................................................................................7
5. Recommendations and Conclusion..............................................................................7
REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................9
APPENDICES.........................................................................................................................10

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 LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Students' frequency of sorting garbage………………………………………...……

2
Figure 2: Students' basic knowledge about garbage's types………………………………..….
3
Figure 3: Students' sources of information…………………………………………………….
3
Figure 4: Students' reasons of keeping garbage sorting habit…………………………………4
Figure 5: The way to encourage people to sort the garbage together………………………… 4
Figure 6: The benefits of sorting garbage………………………………………………..…… 5
Figure 7: The feasible solutions to raise students' awareness……………………………….... 5

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1. Introduction
We are born from the earth and are sustained by the earth. Therefore, the environment in
which we live is very important, it directly affects our lives. However, over the past several
decades, the environment has shown signs of deterioration. One of the main causes of
environmental degradation is due to improper management of waste disposal, which is a
major cause of pollution and disease outbreaks in many parts of the world. There are no
permanent solutions to environmental problems, only that we can reduce and control waste
generation with proper awareness and practice. Therefore, waste management and segregation
are considered to be the optimal solution to this problem.

In the past, there was hardly any effort to raise public awareness, to make people aware of the
possible dangers of poor waste management. Thereby leading to heavy environmental
pollution, and uncontrolled waste volume. In order to help reduce waste generation and
promote effective waste management, everyone must be aware of environmental issues and
perform their role in effective waste management, especially for today's young generation.
Therefore, this research paper will present the waste management system at Hanoi University
and survey the garbage sorting habits of the student community.

Ironically, up until now, most of the formal investigations were written about students'
attitudes about garbage sorting, only a few wrote about their real experiences. In fact, attitudes
and actual behaviors are not always consistent. According to the research article "Plastic
Waste Sorting Intentions among University Students'' by Loveth Daisy Aikou ORCID and
Jana Mazancová, the majority of students have a positive attitude and proper awareness about
garbage classification as well as environmental protection; however, limitations in practical
action still occur. Similar results were found in Ágústa D. Árnadóttir, Gerjo Kok, [...], and
Gill A. ten Hoor's study, “Waste Separation in Cafeterias: A Study among University
Students in the Netherlands''. The researchers stated "there was a gap between intention and
observed behavior", "intention is often a good predictor of behavior, but not when people do
not have enough knowledge or skills to perform the behavior correctly". Beforehand, they
surveyed and observed students in the cafeteria of a university and the results showed that
only half of them were sorting their trash in the right way. Even when they conduct the extra
lessons to provide knowledge and skills, there does not seem to be any improvement.

Bearing this in mind, this research paper which is based on data from students of Hanoi
University, will focus on clarifying two main questions. Firstly, to what extent do students at
Hanoi University sort garbage? Secondly, why do they have the habit of garbage sorting?

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2. Method
This research paper is based on the primary source of data obtained by conducting
questionnaires. We randomly selected 100 students of Hanoi University to fill in the survey. It
consists of nine questions, which were divided into three groups. The first five questions were
designed to evaluate the understanding of students about sorting garbage. The next three
questions were set up to analyze the way they expanded the habits of sorting and assessed the
advantages of trash classification. The last step was to ask about the solutions for better
awareness and taking practical actions. The survey was posted on the University's forum and
has received a lot of responses. After that the survey results were collected and thoroughly
analyzed with the hope to obtain reliable data.

3. Results
This section outlines the results of the survey conducted to discover Hanoi University
students’ habits of garbage sorting.

7.00% 7.00%

Never Rarely
28.70% 29.70%
Sometimes Often

Always
27.70%

Figure 1: Students' frequency of sorting garbage

As can be seen from Figure 1, the proportions of students who rarely sort garbage (29.7%),
occasionally (27.7%) and often classify trash (28.7%) are equivalent. On the other hand, the
percentage of students who have never separated garbage and those who always keep this
habit is the same (7%).

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 5

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

Figure 2: Students' basic knowledge about garbage's types

The chart clearly shows that nearly half of the respondents know two types of garbage. There
are also a considerable proportion of those who know three types, accounting for 33%. In
contrast, a small part of students admit that they only know one way of sorting garbage, which
means they throw their waste mixed.

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
Family education School education Internet & Media Friends' conversations

Figure 3: Students' sources of information

With regard to sources which they have access to the sorting garbage issue, students tend to
get relevant information via the Internet and media platforms. The number of people who
have acquired knowledge about this from family and school is also relatively large.

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 The influence of other people

Self-awareness of the improtance of sorrting

The intension of being a pioneer

For the common community environment and

other

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

Figure 4: Students' reasons of keeping garbage sorting habit

According to the survey results, there are many reasons given for keeping the garbage sorting
habit of Hanoi University students. Nearly 79 percent of students said that from their own
awareness of the importance of garbage sorting, so they keep the habit of trash classification.
In addition, there are also a large number of survey respondents who said that they are
influenced by people around them such as: family, friends, neighbors (39.8%),...or they want
to be a inspirational person for others to take action to protect the environment (31.6%).

Write a post on the school forum

Form a small sorting garbage group

Teach how to sort garbage for family, friends and

everyone around

Put bins in a force majeure position

Encourage when putting garbage into the right trash

can

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Figure 5: The way to encourage people to sort the garbage together

This chart shows that people often tend to teach how to sort garbage for families, friends and
everyone around and put bins in a force majeure position (63% and 61% respectively). In
addition, the survey result also points out that Hanoi University's students form a small
sorting garbage group (38%) or write a post on the school forum (about 14%) and other ways
in order to stimulate everyone to join in the sorting garbage program.

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 Making fertilizer from organic watse

Saving energy and time for waste collectors

Contributing to environmental protection

Reducing the state and local budget in the process

of waste treatment

Recycling into daily uses, reducing household

costs

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

Figure 6: The benefits of sorting garbage

As can be seen in Figure 6, a large number of students agreed with the view that garbage
sorting contributes to environmental protection (about 81%). Similarly, saving energy and
time for waste collectors or recycling into daily uses, and reducing household costs are also
chosen by many students ( 60% and 62% respectively).

Integrate waste management education into

school curriculum

Add more public waste bins on campus

Put up a sign: "Prohibit throwing all kinds of

garbage in the same trash"
Set a guideline how to classify garbage right
on the trash

Other

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

Figure 7: The feasible solutions to raise students' awareness

In response to the question to raise students' awareness about garbage classification, which
solution is feasible and effective, most students said that they should set a guideline on how to
classify garbage right on the trash instead of just symbols and names, this view is approved by
more than 82% of students and considered is the most optimal measure. In addition, students
also offer some other solutions, like putting up a sign: "Prohibit throwing all kinds of garbage
in the same trash" (46%), adding more public waste bins on campus (44%), or integrating
waste management education into school curriculum (43%).

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4. Discussion of findings
The results presented above are by no means capable of covering all the perspectives of
students’ habits of garbage sorting, due to the fact that they come from only one university
and in quite a limited scope. Nevertheless, as the specimen of the research - Hanoi University
- is still including a fairly wide range of students with their diverse backgrounds. Therefore,
that a certain level of generalization can be deduced from the collected data is confirmed.
4.1. The extent to which Hanoi University sort garbage

The trash classification seems not regularly applied by students. According to Figure 1, the
number of students rarely, occasionally and regularly classify waste is almost equal. In
particular, the proportion of those rarely sorting garbage accounts for the most percentage,
meaning that most students lack knowledge about this issue. However, the outcome of the
further questions show different results: many students have awareness and have universal
knowledge about waste separation (Figures 2 and 3). Thus, by investigating the source they
get the information about it, the media platforms and internet network are considered to be the
most accessible means, followed by having education from family and schools (Figure 3). It
shows that the attitude and behaviors in reality of students are inconsistent. In Vietnam,
garbage is usually divided into 3 main categories: inorganic waste, organic waste and general
waste. According to the responses for the question of how many kinds of garbage and what
they are, most students know about the 2 basic types: inorganic and organic, and also a large
number of them give the absolute correct answer of 3 types. One explanation for this case is
that the trash bins at Hanoi University are separated into 2 types with their symbols and
names. Students, however, still ignore and treat them as mixed bins, or there is another theory
that they do not know exactly what organic waste and inorganic waste are.

Overall, it seems that the problem of students here is the lack of information in details and the
obstacles in putting them into real action and developing it into a habit.

4.2. The motivations to Hanoi University’s students keep their habit of sorting garbage
After conducting a survey of Hanoi University’s students who often sort garbage about what
has motivated and caused them to maintain this habit, and the received result indicates that the
biggest cause comes from the self-awareness of its influence on the global environment.
Besides, a remarkable percentage of students claim that they started the garbage sorting habit
due to the influence of people around them, or they themselves want to be a pioneer to
motivate and impact on others, contributing to environmental protection (Figure 4).

"The problem of increasing waste and pollution, that threatens the future of this planet, is

6
fundamentally caused by human behavior" (Geller & Lehman, 2004). Behavior analysts have
discovered that human waste management may be improved for greater environmental
protection. For example, by looking at how people adjust their settings and how stimuli
management techniques such as prompting might affect behavior. Therefore, a survey was
conducted to analyze the way people encourage others to sort trash together. From this result,
people are often found to tend to teach how to sort garbage for families, friends and everyone
around and put bins in a force majeure position (Figure 5). That is also a way which is
mentioned in a research of Robertson and Walkington (2009). They concluded that removing
or minimizing barriers to trash sorting is a significant aspect for success, since if hurdles exist,
individuals are less likely to sort garbage, even if their attitudes about recycling are good. In
addition, the survey result also points out that Hanoi University's students form a small
sorting garbage group or write a post on the school forum and other ways in order to stimulate
everyone to join in the sorting garbage program (Figure 5).

4.3. The benefits of sorting garbage

Garbage segregation is an important key to protecting the environment, it helps to reduce a
significant amount of waste in the environment. This can reduce the amount of money that
states and localities need to spend on trash removal and collection services, and saves energy
and time for waste collectors. In addition, when sorting waste, it is possible to retain and make
use of recyclable and reusable wastes, turning them into useful products in daily life or for
farming instead of throwing them away.

5. Recommendations and Conclusion

Based on the above discussion of the findings, the following suggestions are made. Regarding
the lack of knowledge as well as awareness of garbage sorting, there should be some essential
measures. First, the university ought to add more waste bins divided into different types on
the campus. In addition, since the Internet and media network are the main means that
students receive information, the university can regularly post the instructions and waste
separation’s influence on the environment on the official website and social group to
propagate and remind students.

With regard to carrying out the actual behavior among students, a lot of them know about but
do not understand what is inorganic or organic waste. Therefore, what the school should do is
to add specific guidelines on how to classify garbage right on the trash, instead of just names
and symbols. It would also be a good idea if the university organizes training activities on
sorting garbage for students from all majors and grades with some small encouraging rewards.

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On the part of students, they need to start paying serious attention to raising their knowledge
and being proactive in taking practical actions to protect the environment.

REFERENCES
Aikowe, L., & Mazancová , J. (2021, July 6). Plastic Waste Sorting Intentions among University Students.
Retrieved from MDPI.
Árnadóttir, Á., Kok, G., Gils, S. v., & Hoor, G. A. (2018, December 31). Waste Separation in Cafeterias: A
Study among University Students in the Netherlands. Retrieved from National Library of Medicine.
Geller , E., & Lehman, P. (2004, May 1). Behavior Analysis and Environmental Protection:
Accomplishments and Potential for More. Retrieved from Springer Link:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.5210/bsi.v13i1.33
Robertson, S., & Walkington, H. (2009, March 30). Recycling and waste minimisation behaviours of the
transient student population in Oxford: results of an on-line survey. Retrieved from Taylor and
Francis Online.

APPENDICES
APPENDIX A

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 QUESTIONNAIRE
Hello! We are a research group coming from class 3K21 of ESPD at Hanoi University. We
are doing a research project on students who are currently studying in Hanoi University. This
questionnaire is for the purpose of gathering data for our research assignment. We would be
very grateful for your response. Please complete and return the questionnaire by 18 May,
2022. Thank you for your cooperation!

1. How often do you sort your garbage?

 Never (If you choose this box, you will not need to complete the following sentences)
 Rarely
 Sometimes
 Often
 Always
2. According to your knowledge, how many types of garbage classification are often
divided into?
 1
 2
 3
 Others (Please specify)__________________________________________________
3. What are those types? (Please write down the names of the types of sorting garbage
you know).
________________________________________________________________________
4. How do you get the information about garbage sorting? (You can choose more than
one option).
 Acquire from family education
 Acquire from school education
 Read information from network sources and media platforms
 Get information through conversations with friends
 Others (Please specify)__________________________________________________
5. What are the reasons/ motivations for you to keep the habit of sorting garbage? (You
can choose more than one option)
 Due to the influence of people around
 Due to self-awareness of the importance of sorting garbage

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  Due to an intention of being a pioneer/ a person who inspires others to take
environmental protection actions
 For the common community environment
 Others (Please specify)_________________________________________________
6. How do you encourage people to sort the garbage together? (You can choose more
than one option).
 Put bins in a force majeure position
 Teach how to sort garbage for family, friends and everyone around
 Form a small sorting garbage group
 Write a post on the school forum
 Others (Please specify)__________________________________________________
7. In your opinion, what are the benefits of sorting garbage? (You can choose more
than one option).
 Recycling into daily uses, reducing household costs
 Reducing the state and local budget in the process of waste treatment
 Contributing to environmental protection
 Saving energy and time for waste collectors
 Making fertilizer from organic waste
 Others (Please specify)__________________________________________________
8. In your opinion, which benefit of sorting garbage has the most positive effect?
(Please write down your answer, you can use the options in Question 7).
________________________________________________________________________
9. In your opinion, to raise students' awareness about sorting garbage, which solutions
are feasible/effective? (You can choose more than one option).
 Set a guideline how to classify garbage right on the trash instead of just symbols and
names
 Put up a sign: "Prohibit throwing all kinds of garbage in the same trash"
 Add more public waste bins on campus
 Integrate waste management education into school curriculum
 Others (Please specify)

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APPENDIX B

QUESTIONNAIRE RESULT
1. How often do you sort your garbage? ( 101 answers)
 Never (If you choose this box, you will not need to complete the following
sentences.) (7)
 Rarely (30)
 Sometimes (28)
 Often (29)
 Always (7)
2. According to your knowledge, how many types of garbage classification are often
divided into? ( 97 answers)
 1 (9)
 2 (48)
 3 (33)
 4 (8)
 5 (1)
 Not sure (1)
3. What are those types? (Please write down the names of the types of sorting garbage
you know).
________________________________________________________________________
4. How do you get the information about garbage sorting? (You can choose more than
one option).
 Acquire from family education (48)
 Acquire from school education (54)
 Read information from network sources and media platforms (70)
 Get information through conversations with friends (23)
 Others (Please specify): Observe from classified bins (3 trash bins next to each other).
(1)

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5. What are the reasons/ motivations for you to keep the habit of sorting garbage? (You
can choose more than one option)
 Due to the influence of people around (39)
 Due to self-awareness of the importance of sorting garbage (77)
 Due to an intention of being a pioneer/ a person who inspires others to take
environmental protection actions (31)
 For the common community environment (2)
 Others (Please specify)_________________________________________________
6. How do you encourage people to sort the garbage together? (You can choose more
than one option).
 Put bins in a force majeure position (59)
 Teach how to sort garbage for family, friends and everyone around (61)
 Form a small sorting garbage group (37)
 Write a post on the school forum (15)
 Others (Please specify): Never have encouraged people to sort garbage. (1)
7. In your opinion, what are the benefits of sorting garbage? (You can choose more
than one option).
 Recycling into daily uses, reducing household costs (61)
 Reducing the state and local budget in the process of waste treatment (53)
 Contributing to environmental protection (79)
 Saving energy and time for waste collectors (59)
 Making fertilizer from organic waste (34)
 Others (Please specify)__________________________________________________
8. In your opinion, which benefit of sorting garbage has the most positive effect?
(Please write down your answer, you can use the options in Question 7).
________________________________________________________________________
9. In your opinion, to raise students' awareness about sorting garbage, which solutions
are feasible/effective? (You can choose more than one option).
 Set a guideline how to classify garbage right on the trash instead of just symbols and
names (81)
 Put up a sign: "Prohibit throwing all kinds of garbage in the same trash" (45)
 Add more public waste bins on campus (43)
 Integrate waste management education into school curriculum (42)
 Others (Please specify): Give the rewards for people who know how to sorting
garbage. (1)
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