Effects of Waste Management Knowledge and People’s Participation on People’s Waste Management Efficiency in Sakon Nakhon Municipality

Abstract

Thailand is facing the problem of urban overflow due to the increasing amount of waste every year due to changes in people's consumer behavior. In addition, in the past, solid waste management did not take into account the preparation for long-term management, therefore, waste management should start from the source, namely the community and people, the cognitive factor is considered to be a very important factor because there is a lot of information out there for the community to know and participate in better waste management. Thus, the purpose of this research included the following: (1) To study the level of waste management knowledge, people’s participation, and the efficiency of people’s waste management in Sakon Nakhon Municipality. (2) To investigate the influences of waste management knowledge and people’s participation on the efficiency of people’s waste management in Sakon Nakhon Municipality. The samples consisted of 398 people whose domiciles were in Sakon Nakhon Municipality, That Choeng Chum Sub-district, Muaeng Sakon Nakhon District. They were obtained through a stratified random sampling technique. The questionnaire with 0.80-1.00 IOC, 0.739-.929 discrimination, and 0.843 reliability was employed as a tool for data collection, and statistics used for data analysis incorporated Frequency, Percentage, Mean, Standard Deviation, and Multiple Regression Analysis. The study revealed these results: (1) The overall Sakon Nakhon people had waste management knowledge at a high level. At the same time, they participated in managing the waste in Sakon Nakhon Municipality, as a whole, at a moderate level, while the efficiency of waste management in Sakon Nakhon Municipality, as a whole, was at a high level. (2) Concerning waste management knowledge, these aspects significantly influenced the efficiency of people’s waste management in Sakon Nakhon Municipality at .01 statistical level: the advantages of waste management (β =0.498), definitions of the waste (KN₁) (β=0.218), waste management (KN₄) (β=0.189). In addition, the knowledge of the types of waste significantly influenced the efficiency of people’s waste management in Sakon Nakhon Municipality at 0.05 statistical level and it could be used to correctly predict the efficiency of the people’s waste management in Sakon Nakhon Municipality 45.60% (R^2Ad=0.456). Regarding the people’s participation, these aspects significantly influenced the efficiency of people’s waste management in Sakon Nakhon Municipality at 0.01 statistical level: participating in the assessment (PAR₄) (β=0.222) and participating in making a decision (PAR₁) (β=0.205). Altogether, they could be used to correctly predict the efficiency of people’s waste management in Sakon Nakhon Municipality 34.30% (R^2Adj=0.343). In contrast, participation in the operation and receiving benefits did not influence the efficiency of people’s waste management in Sakon Nakhon Municipality.