Assessment of Public Awareness Level Regarding Solid Waste Management: A Case Study of Pol-e-Khumri, Afghanistan

This study was conducted to assess the awareness level of 786 families regarding solid waste management in Pol-e-Khumri. A total of 331 questionnaires were distributed among participants of different educational degrees and age groups from which only 310 questionnaires were returned back. Collected data were analyzed using statistical package for social science (SPSS) software. The results of this research showed that 58% of participants had weak general awareness regarding solid waste management, while 29% and 13% of them had moderate and good awareness level of awareness, respectively. Also, participants had satisfactory level of knowledge about responsible administrations (75%) and negative impacts of waste dumping (60%) while, they had moderate level of awareness regarding solid waste management (40%), waste collection (50%) and transportation (45%). Participants showed poor awareness level regarding solid waste disposal methods (25%), source segregation of waste (30%) and hazardous waste (35%). The relationship between the demographic characteristics of respondents (sex and level of education) and their general awareness level was also evaluated. It was found that participants with low education degree have less awareness as compared to participants with high degree of education. Study suggests that there must be an integrated program about solid waste management and enhancing public awareness. Short- and long-term educational programs such as discussions, seminars, workshops and preaching in Masjids are considered to be useful in enhancing public awareness level.