LAUSR

Abstract Post-consumer products in waste streams, including durable and nondurable goods, represent a large portion of the municipal solid waste disposed of in landfills and incinerators in the United States. Product reuse is closely associated with waste prevention, and its promotion requires waste management policies that engage with household practices of disposal and acquisition of used goods. The aim of this study was to assess the disposal and acquisition practices of adults for selected second-hand products. A survey conducted using the Amazon Mechanical Turk online platform, aimed at understanding the preferred disposal routes selected when disposing of post-consumer products, as well as quantifying the distances traveled by discarded products from the current to the next user and identifying the methods of transportation commonly used. The acquisition practices were also investigated with the objective of identifying the main routes used by the consumer of second-hand products. Also, an association analysis was performed to recognize relationships between demographics and the selected disposal and acquisition methods, and to evaluate the existence of any relationship between consumption and purchase of second-hand products. Results from this study showed that disposal and acquisition routes varied according to the type of goods. Associations were observed between selected disposal and acquisition methods and demographics and between the decision on how to dispose of used products and how individuals acquire second-hand items. Local reuse predominated among respondents, but exchanges of second-hand products via the internet is expanding the boundaries of reuse to regional scales. The existence of preferred disposal routes and acquisition channels of second-hand products allows the recovery of reusable products in a more efficient manner and can be explored by decision makers to increase the recovery of post-consumer products.