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COMMUNITY WASTE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

A Study on Community Waste Management Practices in Calahan, Rizal

Bello, Emilio Anton T.

Dela Cruz, Sidney Catherine N.

Sandico, Maxine Sophiya

Sta. Ana, Rainier Dominic S.

Vazquez, Lorenzo Vito B.

12 – Carvalho

9 October 2018

Submitted to Sir Roel Joe Abonal

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Chapter Two

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Introduction

This review of related literature has been divided into two major themes: a) improper

waste management and b) community participation.

The first section provides an overview about the impact and the causes of issues

regarding poor waste management.

The second section discusses the existing literature regarding community attitudes and

participation as factors in approaching the problem of waste management. It also talks about

incentive-based solutions as a means of promoting community participation of geared toward

creating efficient waste management systems.

Improper Waste Management

Improper waste management creates numerous threats to human life, which will be

discussed in the succeeding paragraphs:

Impact

Environmental pollution due to improperly disposed waste produced from human

activity is a global issue. Land pollution in particular, is a grave threat to human health since

it potentially causes emissions that pollute the air as well as contaminate soil and

groundwater (Gijnovci, Musaj, Uka, & Rexhepi, 2017; Ravindra, Kaur, & Mor, 2014). Water

pollution also puts communities at risk. Plastic waste items in marine environments have

adverse effects on wildlife which consequently affect humans (Jambeck, Geyer, Wilcox,

Siegler, Perryman, Andrady, Narayan, & Law, 2014). These two types of pollution can create
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toxic emissions that entail massive repercussions which affect all aspects of human life

beyond health concerns, including livelihood, economic output, and more.

Causes

“The lack of infrastructure for collection, transportation, treatment and disposal of

solid waste, proper solid waste management planning, insufficient financial resources,

technical expertise and public attitude have made the situation exasperating due to which

several environmental and health related problems are increasing” as stated in a study by

Srivastrava, Ismail, Singh, P., and Singh R. in 2014 which sought to investigate India’s urban

solid waste management system. According to their research, one of the main challenges

regarding waste management that emerged included lack of public awareness and support.

According to McAllister (2015), human behavioral issues are also a root cause of

dysfunctional waste management.

Community Participation

Since human communities are both the cause and the main afflicted party of the

effects brought about by mismanaged waste disposal practices, it is clear that community

participation is, in fact, a core aspect of the problem. Thus, human attitudes, behaviors, and

motivators should be understood and assessed in order to successfully address the matter.

These will be discussed in the following paragraphs:

Attitudes toward Waste Management

According to a study by Dhokhikah, Trihadiningrum, and Sunaryo in 2015,

community participation is crucial in implementing efficient waste management, particularly

household waste. The researchers conducted a survey which sought to determine community
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members’ knowledge and attitudes toward waste management practices including

segregation, recycling, and composting in Surabaya, Indonesia. The respondents’ answers

showed that the most common reasons for failing to carry out these methods of waste

reduction and disposal were due to lack of time, laziness, and insufficient knowledge about

proper waste management practices. The study aimed to determine the factors that influenced

the community’s perceptions towards waste management in order to come up with solutions

to address the problem. The researchers recommended waste reduction training programs and

information drives in order to increase public awareness as well as individual’s willingness to

employ proper household waste management. The study also proposed to increase the

number of junkyards (referred to as “waste banks” in the study) since this was proven to have

a positive impact on the respondents’ tendency to segregate and recycle waste due to the

added incentive of earning money in exchange for trash.

Incentive-based Strategies Used to Increase Community Participation

Other researchers have also affirmed the positive impact of providing incentives in

community participation. Xu, Zhou, Lan, Jin, and Cao (2015) conducted an experiment that

offered incentives to residents in urban areas to see whether or not incentive-based waste

management systems work in an effort to increase efficiency in waste management. A year

was spent offering this program to 76 households. Results show that there was an 87.3

percent waste reduction waste in the community.

In the same vein, the City of San Carlos in Negros Occidental incorporated the use of

incentive-based strategies in its waste management programs. This is because San Carlos’

City Environment Management Office (CMO) recognizes that effective waste management

can be achieved via the “active involvement and participation of all stakeholders…” (2015).

San Carlos City’s Ecological Solid Waste Management Plan for years 2015 – 2024
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COMMUNITY WASTE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
approaches the goal of sustainability by factoring in the mobilization of its citizens with

regards to waste management. Specifically, the City has been conducting a program known

as “The Search for San Carlos City Model School and Barangay” since 2006, which has had

a great contribution to the improvement of their waste management program (2015). This

program provides prizes for the winning community in order to motivate the locals to

participate in proper waste management practices.

Thus, as exhibited in the articles above, community behavior plays a huge role in

waste management.

Theory

The researchers will employ the Diffusion of Innovation Theory by E.M. Rogers

(LaMorte, 2016) as a tool to understand how members of the community will respond to,

behave toward, and adapt to the proposed waste management solution. This theory is used to

understand the manner and rate by which a new concept, idea, process, or product is

gradually accepted and adopted over time throughout a group of people.

In the context of Calahan, we will utilize this theory in order to assess how fast or

slow this papers’ proposed incentive-based solution could potentially be accepted and

implemented in their community.

Summary

To sum up, the issue of waste management ultimately boils down to community

participation, since human communities are at the center of the problem. Thus, human

behaviors and attitudes should be the topmost priority in dealing with the issue. An incentive-

based approach may be utilized in order to encourage the community to become more

engaged in responsible waste management.

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Conceptual Framework

Improved Waste
Management Sytem

Increased Community
Participation

Incentive-Based Strategies

The conceptual framework above illustrates that the implementation of incentive-

based strategies in Calahan will lead to increased community participation in waste

management practices, which will eventually lead to an enhanced waste management system

for the welfare of the entire community.

Statement of Hypothesis

Null Hypothesis

The implementation of a customized incentive-based approach for Calahan will not

improve community participation in waste management.

Alternative Hypothesis

The implementation of a customized incentive-based approach for Calahan will

improve community participation in waste management.

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Definition of Terms

Waste Management

The processes and systems put in place as a means of addressing the problem of

pollution is referred to as waste management. Waste Management encompasses the

“collection, segregation, transportation, and disposal” of garbage, as stated in a study by

Ravindra, Kaur, & Mor (2014).

Community Participation

Community participation refers to the engagement of the members of a community in

a certain activity. It is influenced by perceptions, attitudes, and behavior.

Incentive-based Strategy

An incentive-based strategy refers to an approach which makes use of either a

positive action, such as a reward, or a negative action, such as a penalty, in order to alter

human behavior. In this study, only the former type of incentive shall be referred to.
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