KNOWLEDGE AND BEHAVIOUR OF GERMAN STUDENTS REGARDING RECYCLING AND WASTE REDUCTION

Abstract

Through the various activities of waste reduction, re-use, recycling and composting, energy and resources can be saved for future generations. To help achieve sustainable waste management, waste producers must be aware of potential advantages, disadvantages, benefits and problems of different waste management options. Education for sustainable development can help to achieve this. In the current paper, questionnaires were designed and distributed to students to find out what knowledge they had about waste management options and recycling possibilities, how important they rated different waste management approaches, whether they recycled on a regular basis and what they thought about waste reduction. The results illustrate that knowledge about waste management options is high while knowledge of recycling possibilities, participation in recycling behaviour and the importance of waste reduction is lower than in similar surveys that were conducted in other countries.

Keywords: Waste management, recycling, source reduction, waste hierarchy, education for sustainable development

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