Domestic Waste Disposal Practices and Perception towards Solid Waste Management in Selected Areas of Bangalore, India

Aims: To assess the waste disposal practices and perception towards solid waste management in selected areas of Bangalore.

Study Design: Descriptive cross-sectional study.

Place and Duration of Study: Bangalore between November 2019- November 2020.

Methodology: Multi stage sampling technique was used. Using random sampling, respondents from 100 households were selected from each of the 3 study areas. Face to face interview and focus group discussions in all 3 areas were conducted. Semi structured questionnaires were used to collect data.

Results: The study revealed that only 35% of the respondents segregated their waste even though 64% of them had heard about it. 74.7% of them said waste van was available to collect their waste whereas few of them also resorted to open dumping and burning as method of waste disposal. 94% of the respondents said food waste was the commonly produced waste followed by plastics and papers. 14.3% respondents said garbage collection facility was not available in their area. About 72.6% of them were satisfied with the current solid waste management system. Availability of regular garbage collection facility was found to be significant with waste disposal practice.

Conclusion: The variables such as age, education, size of household, source of income and monthly income were found to be significant with waste segregation practices. The waste segregation practices were found to be highly significant with knowledge on waste segregation, education on solid waste management, and exposure to information.