Assessment On The Utilization Of Plastic Bags, Their Disposal And Knowledge Of Adverse Effects Among Communities In Burayu City, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia

Abstract

A study on the assessment and utilization of plastic bags, their disposal practices and knowledge of the adverse effects among the community of Burayu city was conducted from February, 2017 to July, 2017. Data were collected using questionnaire from randomly selected households. A descriptive cross sectional study design was employed. A systematic random sampling method was used to select 305 households from three kebeles. Data were entered to SPSS version 22 for analysis. A descriptive analysis was used to select variables. Chi Square test was used to compare the association between socio-demographic variables, the level of awareness on plastic bags waste adverse effect with plastic bags utilization. Among the total respondents, 220 (72.1%) were aware of the adverse effects of plastic bags wastes while 69 (22.6%) were not aware. Mass media was the main sources of information 143 (65%) followed by health professionals 82 (37.35%). Burning 215 (38.5%) and open field dumping 135 (24.2%) were the main plastic bags waste disposal methods in the area. Though, there is no significant difference between knowledge of adverse effects of plastic bags waste and plastic bags usage, more than half of the respondents 170 (55.7%) were aware of its adverse effects. Age, sex and educational status of the respondents show significant relationship with plastic bags usage. The health bureau of the city should organize awareness campaigns in order to minimize the excessive accumulation of plastic bag wastes in the environment and the Burayu city Municipality has to educate the community to use environment-friendly by using alternative materials, such as cloth bags, paper bags and natural fiber bags. Moreover, that government should implement the plastic bags ban in order to have safe environment.