| چکیده انگلیسی مقاله |
Introduction: Despite the fact that the industrial revolution has boosted human capabilities, it has posed risks to the environment as well. One of the key environmental challenges is the substantial increase in the production of municipal solid waste, which is escalating rapidly across the world. It is estimated that municipal solid waste production will reach more than 3.4 billion tons in 2050, which is a serious threat to the environment and human life. Reducing waste production, reuse, and recycling are three major approaches in municipal solid waste management that are being considered in different countries around the world. It is widely agreed that among the strategies for waste management, minimizing waste generation is the most effective. In Iran, the rise in industrial activities has significantly contributed to an increase in waste production; however, efforts to minimize waste generation have not been prioritized. Therefore, this research aims to study the determinants of reducing waste production among citizens.
Method: The research was performed under a qualitative methodology, employing the thematic analysis technique. The participants were 15 citizens in Abadan who were selected utilizing a purposive sampling method. Data were collected using in-depth and semi-structured interviews. The interviews were conducted in a location that the samples determined and were convenient there. Accordingly, some interviews were conducted at the participants' homes, some in the park, coffee shop, their workplace, or the researcher's workplace. Each interview lasted an average of one hour and continued until theoretical saturation. All interviews were recorded with the participants' permission and written down on paper after completion. Then, they were organized in the form of primary themes, sub-, and main themes. Finally, the credibility of the data was achieved by means of the member-checking technique.
Findings: The findings indicate that citizens' perceptions of waste fall into two primary categories: garbage as a valuable object and garbage as disposable and worthless. Furthermore, the findings from the determinants of reduction of waste production led to the extraction of eighteen sub-themes. After analysis and classification based on relevance and similarity, the sub-themes were categorized into seven main themes as follows: 1) environmental attitudes, 2) subjective norms, 3) review and assessment of perceived behavior, 4) citizenship commitment, 5) education and learning, 6) satisfaction with municipal performance, and 7) control and supervision.
Conclusion: Based on the results, this research concludes that by strengthening environmental attitudes, developing mental norms, increasing citizenship commitment, expanding education, increasing satisfaction with the municipality, and improving control and supervision, waste production can be reduced. |