Solid Waste Management in Tanza National Comprehensive High School: Awareness and Practice

Purpose: The study aims to determine the level of awareness and practices of solid waste management among the students and to find out if there is a significant relationship between their awareness of and their practices of solid waste management.

Design/methodology/approach: This research employed a descriptive-correlation design. Selecting the participants involved voluntary sampling among senior high school students. This study used an online survey using instruments adapted from the research by Abolucion et al. (2012), which is about the level of awareness of the students towards solid waste management, and Cahoy (2013) focused on the solid waste management practices in terms of segregation, reduction, reuse, recycling, and disposal. The data analyses used were percentage distribution, weighted mean, and chi-square.

Findings: The results revealed the students are knowledgeable and mindful of solid waste management. These students have an acceptable habit of segregating, reducing, and reusing waste materials, while they fall short in recycling and disposing of garbage. The student's awareness of solid waste management does not affect their disposal practices; however, their practices in terms of segregation, reduction, reuse, and recycling influence their awareness of solid waste management.

Research limitations/implications: This study was limited to senior high school students at Tanza National Comprehensive High School.

Originality/value: This study focused on the awareness and practices of the students regarding solid waste management.