Assessment on the Effectiveness of WASSTE Management Program at E. T. Tirona Memorial National High School

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Solid waste management is a way of waste control, constantly concerned with storing, collecting, processing, and disposing of solid waste that is consistent with the code of conservation public health, engineering economics, and other environmental concerns. In this line, other research studies show the different ways of preventing wastes in the environment. The E. T. Tirona has been implementing WASSTEmanagement inside of the school. WASSTE stands for Waste Absolute Segregation and Sustainable Tirona Environment which aims to adopt the 4R's (reduce, reuse, recycle and recovery) for waste pollution inside the campus. The study focused onlyon the effectiveness of WASSTE program in ETTMNHS-ISHS. There is no existing research that has been done about WASSTE Management program in the school, therefore the researchers had to conduct a survey to the people involved in this program.

METHODS

To measure the effectiveness of WASSTE management program in ETTMNHS, this evaluative-descriptive research was used. A revised version of the questionnaire in Solid Waste Management for Sustainable Development entitled “A Study of Solid Waste Management for Sound Environmental development in Hambantota Municipal Council (HMC) in Sri Lanka” by Asiri D. Vitharana was utilized for gathering data. This research had a total of (45) respondents including students, teachers, and administrators regardless of their age,gender, and socio-economic status.

RESULTS

The result of the evaluative survey revealed that the WASSTE management program implemented in ETTMNHS was obeyed by all respondents even if some of them do not have enough knowledge about this program.

DISCUSSIONS

Majority of the respondents are aware of the WASSTE program implemented in ETTMNHS and the students were able to produce eco-bricks. On the other hand, few of them know the WASSTE but did not follow the rules like the prohibition of bringing any plastic materials inside the school. Most likely, it is more visible to the students. Furthermore, most of them strongly agree to the rules and regulations/mechanics of WASSTE program. They are satisfied and believed that WASSTE program can help minimize the waste issues inside the school. That means that the WASSTE program implemented in the ETTMNHS has a great impact on the respondents and the environment of the school.