Study on the Public Information Level About the Waste Management System

This article presents some of the results obtained from a study aimed at identifying the level of public information regarding the waste management system. Many articles have been identified in the literature analyzing the solid waste management system. Although this service is mainly provided to the population, not as many articles were found that focus on interviewing the population about the solid waste management system. This article presents a study conducted between 12 December 2022 and 14 January 2023, specifically in the Șerbănești neighborhood in Bacău, Romania. The purpose of the study (a questionnaire-based study) was to identify the population’s satisfaction with the solid waste management system in the analyzed area, as well as the level of information and its accessibility. The data were obtained from an electronic questionnaire created using Google Forms and distributed online. A small number of the questions were aimed at obtaining information about those who participated in filling out the questionnaire, but the majority focused on gathering information from the population about the waste management system. After processing the data generated by 191 respondents, a series of specific insights about the collection system were obtained. Among these, it was identified that, on average, 58% of the population is satisfied with the sanitation service. Regarding the information and awareness activities carried out by the sanitation operator, approximately 52% of the respondents hold a positive opinion. However, when analyzing access to information channels, it was observed that 49.7% of the respondents lack access, and if we consider the sample of respondents who are unaware of their existence, the value reaches 57%. It is recommended that, as a result of this study, this type of research be extended to the entire municipality of Bacău in order to obtain an overview of the waste management system.