Relevance of Environmental Surveys on the Design of a New Municipal Waste Management System on the City of Kokshetau (Kazakhstan)

Abstract

The increasing amount of municipal solid waste is one of the most urgent problems for many countries in the world, including Kazakhstan. In 2021, a new environmental code was adopted in the country. In accordance with this code, some types of garbage (such as plastic, paper, cardboard or glass) are not accepted at sanitary landfills. Besides this, a separate collection system of municipal solid waste in Kokshetau is practically absent, and only a few points for the collection of secondary raw materials are currently available. The state bodies are faced with the task of introducing dual waste collection technology. This work shows the results obtained by a sociological online survey performed among the residents of the city in order to identify their attitudes with respect to the separation and classification of waste. This survey allowed us to study the level of environmental awareness and interest in solving waste-related issues in the population of Kokshetau. The results show that the majority of the population is concerned about the problem of municipal waste management and is ready to cooperate on the classification of waste at the original source. Additionally, it was revealed that the survey participants have weak environmental knowledge, so it is necessary to conduct environmental education activities for the population. The existence of a statistically significant relationship between the variables under consideration in terms of the Pearson Chi-squared criterion was observed.