Development study of the waste management literacy scale: Relationship between disaster and waste

Today, acceleration of activities such as population, consumption trends, technological developments and disasters cause the amount of waste to increase rapidly. Effective and reliable management of wastes is one of the main areas of sustainable development. However, inadequate waste management negatively affects not only daily life but also disaster response processes and increases secondary disaster risks. Among the reasons of this problem, it is thought that individuals have insufficient knowledge, wrong behaviours and inadequate attitudes about waste management. Literacy, on the other hand, stands out as a field that includes not only having knowledge but also being able to transform knowledge into behaviour and attitude. In order to solve the waste management problem, it has become necessary to develop a measurement tool to determine the literacy levels of individuals in the field of waste management. For this reason, it is aimed to develop a Waste Management Literacy scale which is insufficient in the literature. In the research, comprehensive literature review, expert opinion, pilot and main application processes were carried out respectively. Data were collected from individuals over the age of 18 living in Istanbul; 408 participants were reached in the pilot study and 1463 participants in the main application. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were tested using SPSS to determine the construct validity of the developed scale. As a result of the analyses, a valid and reliable Waste Management Literacy scale with 31 items and 3 factors (Knowledge, Behaviour and Attitude) was obtained. Cronbach Alpha value of the whole scale was .965 and Cronbach Alpha value of Knowledge, Behaviour and Attitude factors were .962, .956, .940 respectively. It is expected that the obtained Waste Management Literacy scale will be used in scientific studies in the future and contribute to the society, waste management sector and literature by supporting sustainable development. Keywords: Waste disaster, Waste management, Waste management literacy scale, Sustainable development