Assessing the knowledge and attitudes of Makerere University undergraduate students towards adoption of sustainable solid waste management practices: a case study of sustainable solid waste disposal practices

Abstract

Solid waste disposal practices among Makerere University undergraduate students has been a major challenge of the University management since the advent of private sponsored students scheme in the 1990s that saw a spontaneous rise in the number of students. The Study was aimed at assessing the levels of knowledge and attitudes among Makerere University undergraduate students towards the adoption of sustainable solid waste disposal practices with a major focus on solid waste dumping practices. The study was guided by research objectives: evaluate the current solid waste disposal practices among Makerere University undergraduate students with a focus on solid waste dumping practices, assess the current levels of knowledge on solid waste disposal practices among Makerere University undergraduate students with a major focus on solid waste dumping practices and examine the attitudes of undergraduate students towards adoption of sustainable solid waste disposal practices with a major focus on solid waste dumping practices. The study area was Makerere University based in Kampala, Uganda and the study population was Makerere University undergraduate students across all the 10 colleges of study. The study was cross sectional and adopted the use of the non-random design method to select study participants. The data collection tool used to meet the objectives of the study was a well-designed digital questionnaire. The data collected was quantitative in nature. To analyze all the 3 study objectives, descriptive statistics such as frequencies and percentages were used. The study indicated that majority of undergraduate respondents‟ (64%) attitudes towards adoption of sustainable solid waste dumping practices were generally positive. The study found out that most of the respondents (97%) were knowledgeable about the fact that poor dumping of solid waste had a negative impact on the environment compared to only a lower percentage of respondents (2%) who otherwise lacked sufficient knowledge on solid waste dumping practices. The study revealed that majority of the respondents (54%) dispose their solid waste through open dumping. The study recommended that Uganda‟s ministry of Education and Sports integrates environmental communication within environmental education initiatives across the curriculum of different learning intuitions to supplement the currently high levels of knowledge and positive attitudes towards the adoption of solid waste dumping practices among undergraduate students.