Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Single-Use Plastics Among University Students in Ilocos Norte, Philippines

Plastic pollution has created a global threat. More specifically, plastic waste has imposed a myriad of environmental hazards in the Philippines. Research found discrepancies in the levels of enforcement of local plastic bans. This inconsistency has been studied by examining associations between individual knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of single-use plastics. However, there is a dearth of research that examines this phenomenon in the Philippine province of Ilocos Norte where local plastic bans have been implemented in the past five years. The purpose of this research is to examine the KAP of single-use plastic bag consumption and sustainable disposal in the province of Ilocos Norte. Undergraduate-level university students completed KAP surveys in February of 2024 (N = 968). Two-way chi-square tests were run to examine associations between knowledge, attitudes, and practices as well as sociodemographic data. Results suggest that there are statistically significant associations between attitudes and practices, gender and attitudes, gender and practices, age and knowledge, age and practices, year in college and attitudes, year in college and practices, mother' s education and attitudes, family monthly income and knowledge, college major and knowledge, college major and practices, and the presence of plastic bans and knowledge for the study sample. Overall, 30.9% of respondents exhibited high knowledge, 90.2% demonstrated positive attitudes, and 56.0% displayed good practices. These research findings are novel because they examine the role of KAP among young adults in a province that adopted and implemented a plastic ban five years prior to the data collection for the study.