Assessing the Knowledge & Practice in Domestic Waste Minimisation in Urban Communities

Abstract: One of the major environmental issues in fast-urbanising cities is the increase domestic solid waste. In developing nations, managing solid waste at home becomes increasingly challenging due to increasing populations, growing economic activity, and associated factors. This study aims to increase the community's knowledge and practice of the 3R’s concept in the neighbourhood. While the objective of this study is to identify the community's knowledge and practice of the 3R’s concept and to propose strategies to increase the community's knowledge and practice of domestic solid waste minimisation focusing on 3R’s concept. Data were gathered by a questionnaire survey of 162 households. The frequency, percentage and one-way ANOVA were used for statistical analysis. A one-way ANOVA revealed five significant differences among the socio-demographic characteristics with respect to knowledge and practice towards domestic solid waste minimisation; these included gender, age, race, marital status and education. The one-way ANOVA showed significant differences among three socio-demographic characteristics with respect to knowledge and practice regarding solid waste minimisation; these included gender (p=0.00), race (p=0.04) and marital status (p=0.03) at a p-value threshold of below 0.05. The level of knowledge and practice towards waste minimisation remains high performance but need the proper coordination between the various stakeholders involved in waste management, such as local authority. The results found that stakeholders act individually and do not have any initiative to increase solid waste minimisation. Therefore, local authorities should cooperate with stakeholders in providing systematic education to enhance solid waste minimisation.