A STUDY OF THE LEVEL OF AWARENESS AND PRACTICES OF SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT IN CHINHOYI, URBAN, ZIMBABWE

This paper reports on a baseline study on the level of awareness and practices of solid waste management in Chinhoyi urban. The study was motivated by the high levels of solid waste in the Chinhoyi urban community. The study collected data through questionnaires and interviews from a random sample of 315 residents. Findings show that the majority of people in the Chinhoyi urban community did not take solid waste disposal as their responsibility but that of the municipality. Hence they were not doing much to help the situation. Some communities had a negative attitude towards the whole concept while a few were very supportive and willing to engage in activities that promote behaviour change on solid waste disposal.