Assessment of rural residents’ willingness to participate in waste management in Jajarm county, North Khorasan province in 2021

many countries have currently put waste management as a priority on the agenda and are seeking to enhance its effectiveness by encouraging public participation. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the willingness of rural residents to participate in waste management processes in Jajarm County, North Khorasan Province.

The survey research method was used. The target population consisted of 4031 households from 37 villages in Jajarm County. The dependent variable of willingness to participate in waste management was measured with 5 variables, including willingness to pay for waste disposal, willingness to use special containers, eagerness to separate waste at source, eagerness to deliver separated waste, and tendency to cooperate with rural development. The impact of independent variables on the five dependent variables was evaluated by running five logit functions.

The results of the models showed that age, education, regular waste collection by village councils, cooperation with rural cooperatives and organizations, payment for waste collection, familiarity with waste management methods, health effects of waste, familiarity with the harmful effects of waste, communication with extension agents and rural health liaisons, participation in waste management training classes, and satisfaction with the village council have a positive and significant (p≤0.05) impact on the willingness to participate in waste management.

Providing educational programs and introducing the consequences of non-separation of waste on human health and the environment is effective in attracting the participation of people in waste management plans and should be prioritized in waste management programs.