As main contractor at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, BAM Infra Energie & Water strives for optimal asset maintenance for each and every one of their assets. In order to achieve this, one of the components which needs to be improved are the amount of malfunctions of Schiphol’s sewage pumping stations. These are caused by all types of obstructions, but especially towels and wipes. So far, BAM’s technically oriented solutions have not shown sufficient improvement. This was the base for this graduation project, in which I took a designerly, human oriented approach into solving the obstructions. I have tried to solve the obstructions at the source: the passengers at the airport. The goal of this project is to design a behavioural intervention, to prevent passengers from flushing waste down the toilets in the first instance. After reviewing research done into behavioural change and toilet design, as well as an evaluation of the stakeholders involved, a user research was set up to identify the behaviour which causes the flushing of waste and the reasons behind this. This was done in the form of exploratory interviews among a population representative of the possible visitors passing by at the airport. With the initial research, five design directions were established as a basis for ideation: signage, waste bins, towel dispensers, removing opportunity and feedback. A myriad of solutions were combined into an initial concept proposal, to be refined into a final, two-part concept: 1. A design of a new, user friendly and hygiene oriented waste bin, to be implemented in the individual toilet cubicles. The availability and user oriented design needs to make throwing waste into the bin more attractive than flushing it. 2. A repositioning of the cleaning personnel, where they are more in the forefront in a host-like manner. This will establish a connection with the passengers to give them a feeling of responsibility over the cleanliness of the toilet area, as well as a feeling of being watched to ensure the passenger behaves better. Combining these two interventions should trigger the passenger enough to lower the amount of waste being flushed and eventually the number of obstructions in the pumps. To confirm whether this concept actually achieves the intended behavioural change, a second user test was performed, in which the user group gave their thoughts on the new situation with the help of a use scenario to help them imagine themselves in this situation. With the user evaluation, as well as in-depth interviews with the three main stakeholders, BAM, Schiphol and cleaning company Vebego, the concept was optimised for implementation. The concept and its implementation came together in the final strategy, which consists of a detailed plan for a six month pilot to evaluate the effects in real life and the possible definite implementation of the concept after that.

This study is a first attempt to address some of the more significant gaps in the available data on (European) furniture. Furthermore, this study takes a dynamic stock analysis approach to look into material stock- and flow dynamics of European household furniture and project them over time. A total of 11 material categories in 14 furniture product categories are assessed. Using principles of dynamic stock analysis and IMAGE data on population and residential floorspace per capita: a Python model has been developed to assess required furniture- and material stocks, the required primary material used in furniture production and the total amount of recycled- and landfilled material per year, and to project the results overtime. To further inform the model, a material database is developed, containing material- and lifetime information on 14 furniture product categories and a survey (n=108) on household furniture has been conducted to derive furniture intensities per unit residential surface. To project the development of material stocks- and flows in European household furniture over time, two scenarios are defined: the business-as-usual or the ‘baseline’ scenario and a second scenario called ‘the reduced waste scenario’ in which reuse and recycle fractions are gradually increased over time. Following business-as-usual patterns in the baseline scenario, the total material stock for furniture is projected to increase with roughly 97 Mt (or 20%) to 584 Mt, towards 2050. The total amount of landfilled- and recycled waste material from household furniture is estimated to be 36 Mt and 4 Mt respectively in 2050. The total amount of required primary material is estimated to increase to 38.5 Mt in total in 2050. In the reduced waste scenario, the total amount of landfilled material is estimated to decrease to 15 Mt in 2050, where the amount of recycled material is estimated to increase to 15 Mt. Also the amount of required primary material is estimated to decrease to less than 18 Mt in 2050. The results from the reduced waste scenario show that a gradual increase from the reuse fraction from 2021 onwards (from 6% to 35% with a 1% step per year) and a gradual increase from the recycle fraction from 2021 onwards (from 10% to 50% with a 2% step per year), would be enough to reduce the need for primary material by half towards 2050. Based on these results, it is the author’s conviction that furniture should be given a separate waste status, similar to that of cars as set out in the end-of-life vehicle directive (European Commission, 2000): materials inside furniture should be labelled and furniture manufacturers should develop dismantling guidelines for their products to ease repair, remanufacturing and recycling. Targets should be set on the country level for the recycling of waste furniture and for the use of recycled (furniture) material in primary production. … Let’s wake up to furniture waste.

With the growing mounds of mixed waste in India and and insufficient solid waste management system, the government and NGO's have turned to people to segregate their waste at home. But, even after a lot of efforts to encourage people to segregate, people have not changed their behaviour and still dispose all their waste into one bin. This graduation project focusses on how systemic design and behavioural psychology can be used to change people's attitude and behaviour towards waste segregation.

Trust is a human mechanism that opens doors to innovation and progress. Especially when risk is involved, trust will create a bridge between you and an opportunity and will enable that crossover. I believe design can form such a bridge, and in this project I explored how design can create trust.
This project was done in the context of a connected farmer platform for Rabobank. The bank wants to move from a service provider to a connector between clients. This will change the relationships they have and new relationships will be established. These new types of relationships are unknown and trust does not exist here. Rabobank, like many other cooperations, used to be able to produce and control trust themselves. Now, this way of creating trust no longer works, and people are looking for other ways to create trust relationships. Technology enables a new type of trust in which people place trust in one-another in stead of a service provider. This creates an interesting opportunity for Rabobank as a connector, because it enables the establishment of trust between clients with Rabobank as facilitator of that trust relationship.
Two main strategies for creating trust can be defined. Contextual trust relies on contextual properties to inform a person about their trustworthiness. Contextual trust is confirmed by control mechanisms such as formal agreements and structural controls. Very different from that we can define intrinsic trust. This type of trust is centred around one’s intrinsic motivations and is communicated through observable actions that eventually accumulate into a reputation.
The strategies enable different types of relationships and collaboration structures. Contextual trust works best in situations with hierarchy and authority. Intrinsic trust is very different and enables self-coordination though autonomy. These strategies are very different but also go well together. Most relationships leverage both strategies to create trust. But also it is important to be cautious with them because contextual trust mechanisms can potentially hurt the foster of intrinsic trust. A historical analysis shows how Rabobank has always been able to work from a trust relationship. The way the bank works has changed immensely and these types same relationships are no longer an option. The bank is still very allied to the agricultural sector and a new dynamic between bank and sector has to be found in order to work together. Rabobank is a cooperative bank, and even though not many people really understands what this really means it tuned out to be an interesting asset. Especially because farmers are so very used to work in these types of structures. A cooperative structure enables new ways of working, and enables a new structure in which Rabobank has to define its role. All findings and insights were synthesised into a design proposal (Figure 2) for a data sharing platform for Rabobank. The setup of the platform also highlights Rabobanks role (Figure 1), with its many trust consequences. The visualised platform highlights many trust mechanisms and shows what they would look like in this context.

Packaging made from renewable sources has become more important in our society every day. Bio-based packaging is a sustainable alternative to petrochemical plastic packaging since it reduces the dependency on fossil fuel resources and lowers CO2 emissions. Tetra Pak has recently introduced the bio-based package in the market. Tetra Pak’s bio-based packaging uses wood to produce the carton and sugarcane to produce the plastic coatings of the package and the cap. However, they want to know consumers’ opinions about bio-based packaging, and how to best communicate this concept on drinks packaging. This graduation research project shows the results of two studies carried out in the Netherlands on beverage cartons with bio-based plastic. The first study is based on a qualitative approach which discusses consumers’ preconceptions and perceptions on beverage cartons with bio-based plastic. A second study is an experimental approach which tests what kind of informational cues (logos, infographics, and storytelling) better represent the concept in terms of clarity, understanding, and attractiveness on the package. It was identified in this project that consumers lack knowledge in sustainable packaging alternatives, especially bio-based packaging. Most of the consumers find the bio-based term confusing and abstract. However, in this study consumers have shown their willingness to contribute to the environmental impact and willingness to purchase bio-based packaging alternatives once they understand the concept. Finally, this project offers theoretical and practical implications for the company Tetra Pak. To have a clear understanding of what the concept is, words that consumers can easily understand should be used to describe the bio-based concept such as plant-based package or package made of renewable resources. In addition, information displayed on the package should emphasize the amount of bio-based material used on the package to enhance consumers’ trust in the brand. Lastly, the correct disposal of the package should be emphasized to consumers to avoid confusions.