An analysis for impression of residents on livestock waste management system

In North area of Yagi Town, Kyoto prefecture, there is a livestock waste management system, named 'the Yagi Bioecology Center', which utilize the wastes (feces and urine) from livestock for producing compost and liquid manure and generating electricity from methane gas. The objective of this study was to investigate the impression of residents in Yagi Town on the Center and identify the factors influencing the impression. Questionnaire surveys were conducted to junior high school students' parents and members in the self-government association in the North area of Yagi Town. Available questionnaires were obtained from 74 male and 173 female respondents. Five principle components (indexes) were extracted from three groups of questions using principle component analysis; the total evaluation index for the Center from the first, question group, the evaluation index for organic agricultural products from the second question group, and the total consciousness index for environmental activities and indexes for disposal segregation and recycling activities from the third question group. The total evaluation index for the Center was taken as the dependent variable in this study. The effects of factors on the index were examined by least squares analysis of variance using three levels of models. The results showed that effects of occupation and the degree of attachment to Yagi Town and an interaction effect between the place of residence and the degree of attachment to Yagi Town were important sources of variance. The residents who deeply attach to Yagi Town tended to place the higher value on the Center and the tendency was strong for the residents who live in the North area where the Center is located. Furthermore, the residents who better know the function of the Center tended to highly evaluate the Center.