Citizen Participation in Urban Waste Separation from Origin and its Barriers (Case Study: city of Babol)

Introduction: The best way to recycle municipal wastes is to separate them at home by the users. To this end, participation and cooperation of all citizens is required and the necessary infrastructure should be provided in the field of waste segregation. This study was conducted to determine the status of citizenschr('39') participation in separating urban wastes from the source and to investigate its obstacles. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2019 on 476 households in the city of Babol. The participants were randomly selected as clusters. The information was collected through a researcher-made questionnaire containing 21 specific and general questions. For data analysis, t-test, analysis of variance, and logistic regression were used with 0.95 confidence level. Results: Of the total households involved in the waste segregation scheme, 27.5% were frequently and 15.3% were sometimes involved in separating the wastes.  In this regard, 91.8% of households were aware and 8.2% were unaware of waste separation .A significant proportion of urban households reported that lack of patience (61.3%) and sufficient space to separate household waste (59.5%) prevented segregation. From the point of view of municipal-related factors, non-delivery of dry waste on holidays (94.7%), low number of barracks (95.8%), and lack of continuous training (95%) were reported as obstacles in separating wasts. Conclusion: Major urban households reported poor municipal performance, facilities, and planning, as well as lack of patience and adequate space as barriers to segregation. To meet this, planning for urban waste management is essential. In order to avoid wasting a countrychr('39')s natural resources and reduce the productive waste of citizens, it is necessary to motivate people and provide citizens with the necessary public education to separate wastes.