ABSTRACT

This chapter shows that a stand-alone policy obligating municipal residents to segregate their waste may not be enough to motivate participation in urban waste management, and other factors like socio-economic conditions, consumption habits, culture, and lack of relevant policy affect municipal solid waste (MSW) management. It also shows that how socio-political contexts and context-dependent human behavior impact policy implementation and success, critical criteria in the pursuit of sustainability. The chapter explores the role of environmental education to make citizens aware of their urban waste management responsibilities. It explains why consumption culture and behavior are important factors in effective urban municipal waste management. The chapter aims to explore the context of MSW in order to offer suggestions for improvement to MSW governance. The chapter presents the results which were gathered using mixed methods, including qualitative methods like ethnography, interviews, and documentary information, and quantitative methods via surveys.