Public awareness, knowledge, and practice toward mandatory waste separation to support recycling in Greater Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

This study aims to examine different stakeholders’ awareness, knowledge and practice toward household waste separation and recycling (HWSR) in Greater Kuala Lumpur to address the paucity of research on the effectiveness of the policy and public’s attitude concerning HWSR in Malaysia. Data were collected through: 1) a public social survey carried out using face-to-face interviews and online surveys and 2) key-informant interviews with stakeholders associated with solid waste management (SWM. Pearson’s correlation, Mann-Whitney U and Chi-squared tests were carried out to find significant differences between selected variables. Results show that the respondents had good knowledge (mean score of 3.2 out of 4), and 38% of the respondents were practising some form of HWSR. Many respondents (65%) were not aware of the current waste separation policies, but 93% of the respondents would be willing to separate waste at source if necessary facilities were provided. Suggestions are made for stricter enforcement of policies and dissemination of information around HWSR, through public engagement by all relevant stakeholders.