A study in Kalyani Municipality, West Bengal, reveals that while residents are aware of solid waste management's importance, knowledge doesn't always translate into practice.
Despite high awareness, busy lifestyles hinder effective waste management. Community participation is deemed crucial, yet individual efforts are often undervalued.
The findings highlight the need for tapping citizen knowledge to foster better attitudes and practices.
India is among the world’s top 10 countries generating municipal solid waste (MSW). Municipal solid wastes are the residue or rubbish generated from household and commercial activities from municipalities and includes wastes generated from hospitals, industries. As per the Integrated Solid Waste Management System Hierarchy, the most preferred strategy is “at source reduction & reuse” followed by recycling and composting of organic matter of waste. “At source reduction & reuse” implies the reduction of waste generation at personal level at homes, businesses, and institutions.
To assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding household solid waste management among the residents, a study was conducted in 2024 among the residents of Kalyani Municipality in Nadia, West Bengal. Ninety-one per cent of respondents in this study knew what solid waste was and 87 per cent of residents segregated their waste. They were aware of the damaging effects that solid wastes generated had on the environment and health of people. The respondents who had higher education levels showed more positive attitudes than respondents with low education levels. Ninety-four per cent of respondents believed that it is an environmental issue that needs immediate attention. An interesting contradiction in the thinking of people was revealed. Although, a whopping 94 per cent consider community participation crucial for effective waste management programmes, yet more than half of the respondents feel that reducing their household waste hardly makes a difference, and that their efforts won't have much impact, feeling the problem is too large for individual actions to solve. The study also found that knowledge and positive attitudes towards SWM does not always translate to better waste management practices.
In Kalyani, despite understanding the importance of waste management, highly educated and affluent individuals struggled to implement good practices due to busy work schedules. The findings suggest that knowledge and attitudes alone are insufficient—time constraints and lifestyle factors play a larger role in determining waste management behaviour. In contrast, individuals with lower education showed better waste management practices which they attributed to the regular awareness campaigns conducted by Nirmal Sathi. These women employed by the municipality play a key role in educating households on how to segregate waste at the source. They guide residents on disposing of dry waste in blue bins and wet waste, such as kitchen scraps, in green bins. Additionally, they conduct door-to-door visits to raise awareness about proper waste segregation practices.
Rapid urbanisation and change in lifestyle lead to substantial increase in the amount of waste generated. There is an urgent need for efficient and sustainable waste management practices. However, government initiatives such as the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Mission) can only do so much. Citizens, in general, have a decent understanding about the ecological, health and aesthetic effects of unmanaged waste scattered throughout communities. This knowledge has to be tapped into to create better attitudes and corresponding good practices. Political will to invest heavily in waste management infrastructure has to be complemented with higher awareness among communities to achieve efficient waste management.
Sankalpa Satapathy is an Assistant Professor, Institute of Public Health Kalyani
J Hmingchhuanmawii is an MPH student, Institute of Public Health Kalyani
Views expressed are the authors’ own and don’t necessarily reflect those of Down To Earth