| dc.description.abstract | Introduction: Plastics are among the most ubiquitous and popularly used products worldwide in developing and developed countries. Most plastics are non-biodegradable which culminates in a growing challenge of the increased of plastic waste worldwide. In addition to this, several plastic waste management interventions have been suggested, but little is known about their effect in real-world settings. Additionally, ventures to quantify plastic waste from a variety of sources has been explored but with little documentation of the plastic waste generated by public transport means. Objective: To assess the effect of public sensitization on plastic littering from buses traveling along the Kampala-Mbarara highway in Uganda to promote proper plastic/solid waste management. Methods: This study used a non-randomized controlled study design, which employed cluster non-random sampling to assess the effect of sensitization on plastic waste disposal. It involved 8 buses traveling along the Kampala-Mbarara highway. Buses were divided into two groups, one group of four (4) buses receiving the intervention (sensitization) and the other group without the intervention. At the end of the journey, plastic waste was collected from the buses, quantified in terms of weight, and compared between the two groups. The data were cleaned in Ms. Excel and then transferred to STATA software version 14 for analysis. Statistical t-tests were conducted to determine the significance of the findings at a level of significance of 95% level of confidence. Results: The major plastic wastes obtained from the different buses included: Polyethylene terephthalate plastics, Polystyrene plastics, Polypropylene plastics, Low-density polyethylene plastics, and High-density polyethylene plastics. This plastic waste constituted 81.8% and 80.0% of the total in the intervention and control buses. Waste bin utilization was higher in the intervention buses than in the control buses, The observed solid/plastic waste management practices were related to individual factors such as knowledge and age, interpersonal factors such as social influences and financing, and bus-related factors such as accessibility to bins. Conclusion: the sensitization intervention improved plastic waste management in the intervention buses. This justifies more investment in sensitization campaigns to promote proper solid/plastic waste management. | en_US |
