Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Households’ participation in solid waste management system of Homs city, Syria

  • Published:
GeoJournal Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Solid waste management practice is a matter of concern for public health and environmental protection and has become a major challenge in Syria. Improper waste management can bear adverse consequences on public health, environment, and natural resources. The current study focuses on households' participation in solid waste management in Homs city. Waste management plans can only be successful if the community support and actively participate in it, and as the largest stakeholder, households have an important role by reduction of waste volume and increasing the recovery rate. In respect to this issue, this study presents the findings of the research concerning the waste management practices applied by households at the local level in Homs city as well as the attitude of households (as service users) to the current solid waste management system. Data were assembled by a questionnaire survey conducted on 300 households in Homs city as well as formal interviews with officials and supervisors in related departments. We found that composting activities were not applied in the studied areas as well as waste separation practices were spurred by economic revenues earned without prior knowledge of the environmental benefits. Moreover, residents had to practice improper ways to remove their waste from residential areas in cases of inadequate and unreliable waste collection services.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
Fig. 14
Fig. 15
Fig. 16
Fig. 17
Fig. 18
Fig. 19

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abarca Guerrero, L. (2014). A construction waste generation model for developing countries. Eindhoven: Technische Universiteit Eindhoven.

    Google Scholar 

  • Abdo, H. G. (2018). Impacts of war in Syria on vegetation dynamics and erosion risks in Safita area, Tartous, Syria. Regional Environmental Change, 18(6), 1707–1719. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-018-1280-3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Afroz, R., Tudin, R., Hanaki, K., & Masud, M. M. (2011). Selected socio-economic factors affecting the willingness to minimise solid waste in Dhaka city, Bangladesh. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 54(6), 711–731.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ahmadi, M. (2017). Evaluating the performance of 3Rs waste practices: Case study-region one municipality of Tehran. Advances in Recycling and Waste Management, 2(130), 2.

    Google Scholar 

  • Akil, A., & Ho, C. (2014). Towards sustainable solid waste management: Investigating household participation in solid waste management. In IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 2014 (Vol. 18, pp. 012163, Vol. 1). IOP Publishing.

  • Al-Khatib, I. A., Kontogianni, S., Abu Nabaa, H., Alshami, N. M., & Al-Sari, M. I. (2015). Public perception of hazardousness caused by current trends of municipal solid waste management. Waste Management, 36, 323–330. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2014.10.026.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barr, S. (2004). What we buy, what we throw away and how we use our voice. Sustainable household waste management in the UK. Sustainable Development, 12(1), 32–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bernstein, J. (2004). Social assessment and public participation in municipal solid waste management, Toolkit. ECSSD-Urban Environment Thematic Group, 210 p.

  • Casana, J., & Panahipour, M. (2014). Satellite-based monitoring of looting and damage to archaeological sites in Syria. Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology & Heritage Studies, 2(2), 128–151. https://doi.org/10.5325/jeasmedarcherstu.2.2.0128.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Colon, M., & Fawcett, B. (2006). Community-based household waste management: Lessons learnt from EXNORA’s ‘zero waste management’scheme in two South Indian cities. Habitat International, 30(4), 916–931.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Contreras, F., Hanaki, K., Aramaki, T., & Connors, S. (2008). Application of analytical hierarchy process to analyze stakeholders preferences for municipal solid waste management plans, Boston, USA. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 52(7), 979–991.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doumani, F., & Musharrafiyeh, H. (2011). Analysis for European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) Countries and the Russian Federation on social and economic benefits of enhanced environmental protection. Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP), Ecologic Institute, Environmental Resources Management Ltd. and Metroeconomica Ltd. Brussels.

  • Faour, G., & Fayad, A. (2014). Water environment in the coastal basins of Syria-assessing the impacts of the war. Environmental Processes, 1(4), 533–552. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40710-014-0043-5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Field, A. (2000). Discovering statistics using SPSS for windows (Vol. 2). London: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Geng, Y., Zhu, Q., Doberstein, B., & Fujita, T. (2009). Implementing China’s circular economy concept at the regional level: A review of progress in Dalian, China. Waste Management, 29(2), 996–1002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • GeoDatos. (2019). Geographic coordinates of Homs, Syria. https://www.geodatos.net/en/coordinates/syria/homs.

  • Gleick, P. H. (2014). Water, drought, climate change, and conflict in Syria. Weather, Climate, and Society, 6(3), 331–340.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guerrero, L. A., Maas, G., & Hogland, W. (2013). Solid waste management challenges for cities in developing countries. Waste Management, 33(1), 220–232.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamzeh, A. (2004). Overview of the Syrian energy profile. Paper presented at the Beirut Regional Collaboration Workshop on Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Technology, Beirut, Lebanon, April 30, 2004.

  • Henry, R. K., Yongsheng, Z., & Jun, D. (2006). Municipal solid waste management challenges in developing countries—Kenyan case study. Waste Management, 26(1), 92–100.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hilburn, A. M. (2015). Participatory risk mapping of garbage-related issues in a rural Mexican municipality. Geographical Review, 105(1), 41–60. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1931-0846.2014.12044.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ibrahim, B., & Novotny, V. (2018). Planning for sustainable development and environmental protection in post-conflict phase—Case study: Syria. In Proceedings of the international scientific conference, 2018: [Latvijas Lauksaimniecības universitāte]. https://doi.org/10.22616/erdev2018.17.n476.

  • Jaafar, H. H., Zurayk, R., King, C., Ahmad, F., & Al-Outa, R. (2015). Impact of the Syrian conflict on irrigated agriculture in the Orontes Basin. International Journal of Water Resources Development, 31(3), 436–449. https://doi.org/10.1080/07900627.2015.1023892.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Joseph, K. (2006). Stakeholder participation for sustainable waste management. Habitat International, 30(4), 863–871.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kasparek, M., & Dimashki, M. (2009). Country environmental profile for the Syrian Arab Republic (pp. 93).

  • Lead, C., Adedipe, N., Sridhar, M., & Verma, M. (2005). Waste management, processing, and detoxification. Ecosystems and Human Well-Being: Policy Responses, 3, 313–334.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liyala, C. M. (2011). Modernising solid waste management at municipal level: Institutional arrangements in urban centres of East Africa (Vol. 3). Wageningen Academic Pub: Wageningen.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Marx, A. J. (2016). Detecting urban destruction in Syria: A Landsat-based approach. Remote Sensing Applications: Society and Environment, 4, 30–36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rsase.2016.04.005.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moghadam, M. A., Mokhtarani, N., & Mokhtarani, B. (2009). Municipal solid waste management in Rasht City, Iran. Waste Management, 29(1), 485–489.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mukisa, P. K. (2009). Public participation in solid waste management: Challenges and prospects: A case of Kira Town council, Uganda. Universitetet i Agder, University of Agder.

  • Müller, M. F., Yoon, J., Gorelick, S. M., Avisse, N., & Tilmant, A. (2016). Impact of the Syrian refugee crisis on land use and transboundary freshwater resources. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(52), 14932–14937. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1614342113.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Narayana, T. (2009). Municipal solid waste management in India: From waste disposal to recovery of resources? Waste Management, 29(3), 1163–1166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2008.06.038.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oberlin, A. (2011). The role of households in solid waste management in East Africa capital cities. Ph.D. Thesis. Environmental Policy Series. Wageningen University. The Netherlands.

  • OCHA. (2019). Humanitarian needs overview of Syria Arabic Republic.

  • Okot-Okumu, J., & Nyenje, R. (2011). Municipal solid waste management under decentralisation in Uganda. Habitat International, 35(4), 537–543.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pokhrel, D., & Viraraghavan, T. (2005). Municipal solid waste management in Nepal: Practices and challenges. Waste Management, 25(5), 555–562.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rajamanikam, R., Poyyamoli, G., & Kumar, S. (2014). The role of non-governmental organizations in residential solid waste management: A case study of Puducherry, a coastal city of India. Waste Management and Research, 32(9), 867–881.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Read, M. R. (2019). Climate and the Syrian Civil War. In The Environment-Conflict Nexus (pp. 167–176). Springer.

  • Saghir, A. (2019a). Solid waste management in non-State armed group-controlled areas of Syria case study-Jisr-Ash-Shugur-district. Environmental Research and Technology, 2(4), 191–210.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saghir, A. (2019b). Solid waste management in non-state armed group-controlled areas of Syria case study “Daret Azza and Atareb sub-district”. Environmental Research and Technology, 2(1), 34–45.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmigt, Y. (2003). Waste Management Program, Regional Community Solid Waste Management Program. Bosnia Herzegovina pp2.

  • Sen, K., Al-Faisal, W., & AlSaleh, Y. (2012). Syria: Effects of conflict and sanctions on public health. Journal of Public Health, 35(2), 195–199. https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fds090.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sharholy, M., Ahmad, K., Mahmood, G., & Trivedi, R. (2008). Municipal solid waste management in Indian cities—A review. Waste Management, 28(2), 459–467.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shekdar, A. V. (2009). Sustainable solid waste management: an integrated approach for Asian countries. Waste Management, 29(4), 1438–1448.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Srivastava, P., Kulshreshtha, K., Mohanty, C., Pushpangadan, P., & Singh, A. (2005). Stakeholder-based SWOT analysis for successful municipal solid waste management in Lucknow, India. Waste Management, 25(5), 531–537.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sujauddin, M., Huda, S., & Hoque, A. R. (2008). Household solid waste characteristics and management in Chittagong, Bangladesh. Waste Management, 28(9), 1688–1695. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2007.06.013.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tabachnick, B., & Fidell, L. (2001). Using multivariate statistics (Vol. 31, Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Bamberger et).

  • Tabachnick, B. G., Fidell, L. S., & Ullman, J. B. (2007). Using multivariate statistics (Vol. 5). Boston, MA: Pearson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tadesse, T. (2006). Household behavior and solid waste management: Survey evidence from Mekelle. M.Sc. Thesis, Wageningen University, The Netherlands.

  • Tadesse, T., Ruijs, A., & Hagos, F. (2008). Household waste disposal in Mekelle city, Northern Ethiopia. Waste Management, 28(10), 2003–2012.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tai, J., Zhang, W., Che, Y., & Feng, D. (2011). Municipal solid waste source-separated collection in China: A comparative analysis. Waste Management, 31(8), 1673–1682.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tonglet, M., Phillips, P. S., & Bates, M. P. (2004). Determining the drivers for householder pro-environmental behaviour: Waste minimisation compared to recycling. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 42(1), 27–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • UN-Habitat. (2014). City Profile Homs. Multi Sector Assessment. https://unhabitat.org/city-profile-homs-multi-sector-assessment/.

  • UN-OCHA. (2014). Syria Multi-Sectoral Needs Assessment (MSNA) (pp. 118).

  • Vidanaarachchi, C. K., Yuen, S. T., & Pilapitiya, S. (2006). Municipal solid waste management in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka: Problems, issues and challenges. Waste Management, 26(8), 920–930.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • WASH-Atlas. (2018). Whole of Syria-WASH Clusters 2018 (Round1: Jun–Jul).

  • Wim, Z., & te Kristine, P. (2015). Amidst the debris: A desktop study on the environmental and public health impact of Syria’s conflict. PAX (pp. 84).

  • WorldData.info. (2019). Climate for Homs (Syria). https://www.worlddata.info/asia/syria/climate-homs.php.

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their thanks to School of Urban Construction and Environmental Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing City, China and Faculty of Civil Engineering, Al-Baath University, Homs City, Syria for their collaboration.

Funding

This research received no external funding.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Urban Construction and Environmental Engineering, Chongqing University, 174 Shazhengjie, Shapingba District, Chongqing City, 400045, People’s Republic of China

    Mohamad Noufal & Sylvia Adipah

  2. Faculty of Civil Engineering, Al-Baath University, Homs City, Syrian Arab Republic

    Mohamad Noufal & Zena Maalla

  3. College of Earth Environmental and Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou City, People’s Republic of China

    Zena Maalla

Authors
  1. Mohamad Noufal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Zena Maalla
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sylvia Adipah
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mohamad Noufal.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

This article does not contain any studies involving animals performed by any of the authors.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (PDF 213 kb)

Chi square tables

Chi square tables

See Tables 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19.

Table 3 Chi square test results for the relationship between waste storage practices and residential district
Full size table
Table 4 Chi square test results for the relationship between waste separation at the household level and residential district
Full size table
Table 5 Chi square test results for the relationship between types of materials that are separated by families and residential district
Full size table
Table 6 Chi square test results for the relationship between waste separation responsibilities and residential district
Full size table
Table 7 Chi square test results for the relationship between dealing with recyclable materials and residential district
Full size table
Table 8 Chi square test results for the relationship between reasons for not recycling waste materials and residential district
Full size table
Table 9 Chi square test results for the relationship between the willingness to practise waste separation at the source and residential district
Full size table
Table 10 Chi square test results for the relationship between reasons for not applying composting practices and residential district
Full size table
Table 11 Chi square test results for the relationship between the willingness to composting organic waste and residential district
Full size table
Table 12 Chi square test results for the relationship between availability of waste collection service and residential district
Full size table
Table 13 Chi square test results for the relationship between frequency of waste collection service and residential district
Full size table
Table 14 Chi square test results for the relationship between alternative waste disposal methods and residential district
Full size table
Table 15 Chi square test results for the relationship between respondents’ opinion and residential district
Full size table
Table 16 Chi square test results for the relationship between respondents’ opinions on the activities of waste collection and residential district
Full size table
Table 17 Chi square test results for the relationship between sources of information and residential district
Full size table
Table 18 Chi square test results for the relationship between householders’ evaluation of the overall SWM system and residential district
Full size table
Table 19 Chi square test results for the relationship between households’ view of the factors contributing to the improvement of current SWM system and residential district
Full size table

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Noufal, M., Maalla, Z. & Adipah, S. Households’ participation in solid waste management system of Homs city, Syria. GeoJournal 86, 1441–1463 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-020-10139-x

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-020-10139-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation