Factors Influencing Adoption of Compost Made from Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste and Purchasing Pattern: A Survey of Italian Professional and Hobbyist Users

Composting represents an alternative for the management of the organic fraction from munici-pal waste. However, the adoption of compost made from municipal waste is not yet widespread across all European countries, including Italy. Being 'professional' (i.e., farmers and gardeners) and 'hobbyists' the most representative categories of compost buyers in Italy, this study inves-tigated their attitude toward municipal waste compost adoption and their purchasing pattern, pointing out criticalities and strategies to promote a wider use of this kind of compost. For the two categories of users, frequency of use of different information, buying habits, opinions on marketing issues, and factors which encourage compost utilization were investigated. The 'pro-fessionals' and 'hobbyists' reported different purchasing behaviors in terms of quantity, fre-quency, and preferred packaging format. The capability of compost from municipal waste to improve soil characteristics and its low environmental impact were identified as the most sig-nificant aspects for users, while availability of economic subsidies was not a determining factor for municipal waste compost adoption. With regard to the information sources, the broader use of personal communication channels like peers' suggestions may have influence on compost adoption pointing out how social influence can promote sustainable behavior and influence us-ers' purchasing choices.