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Purpose – The present article explores a relatively new way for consumers to dispose of items they no longer use, namely free recycling websites. Online recycling is based on an encounter with an unknown recipient to give something away ‘in person’.

Methodology – A phenomenological approach was used to understand the meaning of giving through free recycling websites. Placing the focus on the donor's perspective, we analysed Internet postings and conducted 27 in-depth interviews.

Findings – Our research shows that (1) when the object is given, the online giver is less concerned about the risk of refusal, since the recipient has deliberately made the choice to take the item; (2) when the item is received, the encounter with the recipient removes the anonymity of charities and (3) in return, the encounter with the recipient offers the giver acknowledgement for the gesture without committing them to a relationship with the recipient in the way a gift to kith or kin might do.

Research implications – While former literature has highlighted certain tensions in the gift economy, this study shows how free recycling websites can help to alleviate such tensions.

Social implications – The research highlights how this system of object disposition enhances social interactions between two strangers that share an interest in the same object.

Originality – The article shows how this new form of gift-giving relationship is both rewarding and liberating: it is rewarding thanks to the interaction with the recipient (unlike donations to charities) without necessarily creating a bond of dependence (unlike giving to someone you know).

This paper aims to illustrate the growing role of machine learning techniques in robotics.

Following an introduction which includes a brief historical perspective, this paper provides a short introduction to machine learning techniques. It then provides examples of robotic machine learning applications in agriculture, waste management, warehouse automation and exoskeletons. This is followed by a short consideration of applications in future generations of self-driving vehicles. Finally, brief conclusions are drawn.

Machine learning is a branch of artificial intelligence and the topic of extensive academic study. Recent years have seen machine learning techniques being applied successfully to a diversity of robotic systems, most of which involve machine vision. They have imparted these with a range of unique or greatly improved operational capabilities, allowing them to satisfy all manner of new applications.

This provides a detailed insight into how machine learning is being applied to robotics.

As one of the eight key competencies of life-long learning strategies identified by the European Union and the difficulties in enhancing the “sense of initiative and entrepreneurship”, the purpose of this paper is to propose a co-production approach to overcome several concerns.

An exploratory approach is used to analyse a single case study based on the EntreComp progression model and on a pedagogical approach consistent with the philosophy of learning through creating value for others.

The study introduces best novel practices that help enhance entrepreneurial education in primary school by engaging multiple local stakeholders in co-producing education. The case mainly shows that a co-production approach is appropriate to overcome challenges and assists policymakers to identify specific actions and make investments in entrepreneurship education (EE) at the primary level.

Theoretically, the study contributes to literature on entrepreneurial education and co-production studies. The main drawback of the study is its explorative analysis of a single case.

For practitioners, the research proposes stakeholder involvement as key to co-producing EE in primary schools, implying that policymakers should identify resources for projects and other similar initiatives.

The study elucidates the relevance of co-production approach to ensure early EE in school.

This study aims to test how waste disposal behaviors can be changed such as higher recycling diversion and lower contamination rates using signage and messaging techniques at public outdoor waste receptacles on a university campus.

The experiment took place at five public outdoor receptacle stations, each with a landfill and recycling receptacle, which were located in highly trafficked areas on the University of Florida campus. The study consisted of three phases, each lasting for three weeks. During phase one, no signage and messaging were introduced; during phase two, negative and concrete messaging was placed on signs that stood above the two receptacles; and during phase three, positive and abstract messaging was placed above the receptacles. Waste audits were conducted by separating and weighing the waste.

With signage and messaging implementation, the recycling diversion rates increased and contamination in the recycling receptacles decreased. However, there was not a consistent decrease in contamination in the landfill receptacles. The study also showed that the negative and concrete messaging was more effective at both increasing diversion rates and decreasing contamination rates at the recycling receptacles.

Waste managers on university campuses need to address the purpose and type of messaging being used at waste receptacles to maximize behavior and/or education outcomes.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study represents the first time waste disposal behaviors have been analyzed and experimented on at public outdoor receptacles on a university campus.

This research addresses the grave issue of plastic waste in the Pacific. By using Samoa as a case study, it was considered that distributed recycling combined with 3D printing offers an opportunity to (1) repurpose and add new value to this difficult waste stream and (2) engage diverse local communities in Samoa by combining notions of participatory design with traditional Samoan social concepts. Fieldwork in Samoa established the scope of the issue through interviews with stakeholders in government, waste management businesses, the arts and crafts community and education. Based on the information obtained from the fieldwork, potential product areas and designs were explored through material and 3D printing experiments using low-cost, open-source equipment. The experiments informed the design of speculative scenarios for workable, economically viable, socially empowering and sustainable systems for repurposing and upcycling plastic waste, which then enabled production of practically useful and culturally meaningful 3D printed objects, artefacts and products. Building upon the outcome and with a view towards implementation, Creative Pathways, an educational initiative aimed at propagating 3D printing and contextual design, was established and is being delivered in local schools.

This study aims to investigate the differences in underlying psychological aspects regarding pro‐environmental behaviors between two distinct consumer groups: green product purchasers and green product non‐purchasers. Focusing on pro‐environmental behavior in recycling, it seeks to investigate these psychological aspects: cognitive attitude, affective attitude, social norm, personal norm, and behavioral intention.

Using a web‐based survey, a total of 363 responses from US consumers were used for the data analysis. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to check the measurement model, and a multiple regression and MANOVA were performed to test the proposed hypotheses.

Compared to green product non‐purchasers, green product purchasers exhibited significantly higher levels of cognitive attitude, affective attitude, social norm, personal norm, and recycling intention. Also cognitive attitude, social norm, and personal norm predicted recycling intention.

The limitations of this study include the self‐reporting questionnaire and the measurement of consumers' recycling intention rather than their actual behavior.

This study will provide useful information to retailers who are developing product/service offerings and operation practices to address sustainable consumption.

This study provides empirical evidence that certain consumer groups in relation to pro‐environmental product shopping behavior (purchasers vs. non‐purchasers) exhibit differences in the psychological formation of another pro‐environmental behavior, recycling.

Designing and manufacturing long-lasting things and minimizing the use of material resources are central concerns to the circular economy. Yet, repairing and repurposing objects, and the experiences and knowledge of those who extend the life of objects at the consumption level, are absent from discussions on the circular economy. Based on in-depth interviews focussing on practices of repair and repurposing within households, this article interrogates waste and its capacity to disturb, impede or provoke practices central to the circular economy. Re-considering waste within discussions on the circular economy is a way to bring to the surface the overlooked capacity of waste to enable or hinder household engagement in practices of repair and repurposing through waste’s heterogeneous and shifting components, sacredness and morality.

Efficient and high-accuracy intelligent color and material sorting systems are the main bottlenecks restricting the recycling of waste textiles. The mixing of waste textiles with different colors will make the reconstructed raw material of textile fiber useless or with low quality. In this study, some challenges about the automatic color sorting for waste textile recycling are discussed. A computer vision-based color sorting system for waste textile recycling is introduced, which can classify the required colors well and meet the efficiency requirements of an automatic recycling line.

There are four aspects, (1) two cameras with different exposure times and white-balance parameters are involved for establishing the computer vision system. (2) Two standard color databases with two cameras are constructed. (3) A statistical model to determine the colors of textile samples is presented in which uniform sampling of pixels and mid-tone enhancing techniques are exploited. (4) The experiments with a number of waste textile samples from a factory in Hong Kong are conducted to illustrate the efficiency of the developed system.

The experiments with a number of waste textile samples from a factory in Hong Kong are reported. The total classification accuracy performs good. The research methods and results reported in this study can provide an important reference for improving the intelligent level of color sorting for waste textile recycling.

It is the first time to introduce computer vision technology to a color sorting system for recycling waste textiles, especially in a real recycling factory in Hong Kong. The research methods and results reported in this study also deliver guidance for designing a computer vision-based color sorting system for other industrial scenarios.

Although the adoption of 3D printing technology in many sectors such as medicine, aerospace, jewelry and the food industry is remarkable, the adoption of 3D printing technology by hobbyists remains unknown. The purpose of this paper is to map the attitude of individuals toward this new technology, define critical factors that have an impact on hobbyists’ behavior and, finally, explore the impact of 3D printing on social, economic and environmental changes, as 3D printing technology redesigns manufacturing, thereby impacting many sectors of day-to-day life.

A survey has been carried out on Greek hobbyists, and valuable conclusions have been drawn. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire survey performed on a sample of 344 Greek consumers in this sector. A questionnaire of 30 questions was distributed electronically.

This paper contributes to the determination of the percentage of individuals that know about 3D printing, the factors that have a significant contribution to adoption of the technology and, finally, identifies the profile of those that use 3D printing technology either in their work or for their hobby. Using a factor analysis, the authors classified users into five categories based on their attitudes towards 3D printing adoption: “innovators,” “informed,” “ecologists,” “engineers” and “re-users.”

The authors believe that understanding the predictors of 3D printing technology adoption for personal use and its benefits will overcome a pertained research gap and establish an empirical nucleus for further studies in relevant contexts. This type of research is necessary to expand the survey to other European countries.

3D printing is not new, but rather is an emerging technology. Individuals are willing to adopt this innovative technology. Based on the results of our survey, a desktop 3D printer will be necessary for every home and office in the near future.

The impact of 3D printing technology on rural life and its social implications are open questions. In this paper, by identifying the groups of hobbyists, the authors determine their particular characteristics and their perspectives on this new technology. All of what is discussed above is valuable for mapping the characteristics of those who adopt this technology.

This study is attempting to determine the behavior of individuals towards 3D printing technology, their awareness and how familiar they are with this new technological innovation.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the recycling business in Taiwan as well as its impacts on the collection, environment, economy, and society, providing a good example of setting up an efficient national paradigm.

This paper proposes an alternative policy of dynamic rate of recycling fee as Taiwan's current recycling system is not beneficial to spurring design for environment (DfE).

The paper demonstrates that this improvement will indeed result in changes for entrepreneurs and manufacturers toward green design and financial benefits for flourishing the recycling industry.

Regardless of the progressive success for the current system in Taiwan, a flat rate recycling fee scheme possesses limited inspiration to promote the concept of DfE. In addition to existing literature, the proposed dynamic recycling fee policy demonstrates the increased level of DfE engagement.