Waste management literacy in Indonesian secondary schools: Assessing knowledge, attitudes, and behavior
Downloads
This study explores waste management literacy among secondary school communities in Tangerang City, Indonesia, using the Knowledge, Attitude, Behavior (KAB) model within the 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) framework. Employing a mixed-methods sequential explanatory design, the research integrates quantitative data from 357 participants including principals, teachers, staff, and students from seven schools near the Rawa Kucing Landfill, with qualitative insights from follow up interviews. This study was applied to multiple regression and correlation analyses to evaluate relationships between knowledge, attitude, and behavior. Results show that while knowledge positively influences behavior, attitude unexpectedly correlates negatively, revealing an attitude-behavior gap. Although respondents generally hold positive attitudes toward waste management, these attitudes do not consistently translate into active engagement. The study’s qualitative phase uses interviews to identify barriers contributing to this gap, uncovering individual, social, and structural obstacles such as inadequate facilities and established waste practices that hinder effective waste management. Advocating for a comprehensive approach, the study recommends providing schools with 3R bins and training, sustainable behavior modeling by teachers, alignment of municipal waste collection with school efforts, family reinforcement of waste practices, and curricular integration of waste management. This coordinated approach seeks to bridge the attitude-behavior gap and promote sustainable waste practices across school communities in Tangerang City.
Downloads
Ajzen, I., & Schmidt, P. (2020). Changing behavior using the theory of planned behavior. In the handbook of behavior change (pp. 17–31). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108677318.002.
Aprilia, A. (2021). Waste management in Indonesia and Jakarta: Challenges and way forward. Proceedings of the 23rd ASEF Summer University, Virtual, 1–18.
Babaei, A. A., Alavi, N., Goudarzi, G., Teymouri, P., Ahmadi, K., & Rafiee, M. (2015). Household recycling knowledge, attitudes and practices towards solid waste management. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 102, 94–100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2015.06.014.
Bahij, A. A., Nadiroh, N., Sihadi, S., & Amrullah, F. (2020). Analisis pengaruh literasi energi terhadap hemat energi pada siswa sekolah dasar. Edukasi: Jurnal Penelitian dan Artikel Pendidikan, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.31603/edukasi.v12i1.3401.
Benitez, C. V. (2018). Understanding and Predicting Behavioral Intent of Food Concessionaires on Solid Waste Management in a University Campus. IJEMR, 2(4), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.22662/IJEMR.2018.2.4.001.
Beylot, A., Boitier, B., Lancesseur, N., & Villeneuve, J. (2016). A consumption approach to wastes from economic activities. Waste Management, 49, 505–515. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2016.01.023.
Blake, J. (1999). Overcoming the ‘value‐action gap’ in environmental policy: Tensions between national policy and local experience. Local Environment, 4(3), 257–278. https://doi.org/10.1080/13549839908725599.
Bonnett, M. (1999). Education for Sustainable Development: A coherent philosophy for environmental education? Cambridge Journal of Education, 29(3), 313–324. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764990290302.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa.
Castin, C. P., Dalmacio, R., Flores, C. D., Lamug, B. M., & Manuevo, J. (2022). Household Solid Waste Management (HSWM) Awareness and Applications: A Comparative Study on Urban and Rural Sustainable Practices. International Journal of Environment, Engineering and Education, 4, 93–99. https://doi.org/10.55151/ijeedu.v4i3.79.
Chen, C.-C., Sujanto, R. Y., Tseng, M.-L., Fujii, M., & Lim, M. K. (2021). Sustainable consumption transition model: Social concerns and waste minimization under willingness-to-pay in Indonesian food industry. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 170, 105590. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2021.105590.
Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2016). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. Sage publications.
Debrah, J. K., Vidal, D. G., & Dinis, M. A. P. (2021). Raising Awareness on Solid Waste Management through Formal Education for Sustainability: A Developing Countries Evidence Review. Recycling, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.3390/recycling6010006.
Dennis V. Madrigal, & Enrique G. Oracion. (2017). Solid waste management awareness, attitude, and practices in a Philippine Catholic Higher Education Institution. Recoletos Multidisciplinary Research Journal, 5(2), 43-57. https://doi.org/10.32871/rmrj1705.02.04,
Dung, M. D., Mankilik, M., & Ozoji, B. E. (2017). Assessment of college students’ knowledge and attitudes towards solid waste management in North Central Zone of Nigeria. Science Education International, 28(2), Article 2. https://www.icaseonline.net/journal/index.php/sei/article/view/22.
Fadhullah, W., Imran, N. I. N., Ismail, S. N. S., Jaafar, M. H., & Abdullah, H. (2022). Household solid waste management practices and perceptions among residents in the East Coast of Malaysia. BMC Public Health, 22(1), 1. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-12274-7.
Fahy, F. (2005). The right to refuse: Public attitudes and behaviour towards waste in the west of Ireland. Local Environment, 10(6), 551–569. https://doi.org/10.1080/13549830500321618.
Gravetter, F. J., & Wallnau, L. B. (2017). Statistics for the behavioral sciences (10th ed.). Cengage Learning.
Gusti, A. (2016). The relationship of knowledge, attitudes, and behavioral intentions of sustainable waste management on primary school students in City of Padang, Indonesia. International Journal of Applied Environmental Sciences, 11(5). 1323-1332.
Gusti, A., Isyandi, B., Bahri, S., & Afandi, D. (2015). Hubungan Pengetahuan, Sikap dan Intensi Perilaku Pengelolaan Sampah Berkelanjutan Pada Siswa Sekolah Dasar di Kota Padang. Dinamika Lingkungan Indonesia, 2(2), Article 2. https://doi.org/10.31258/dli.2.2.p.100-107
Hair, J. F., Babin, B. J., Black, W. C., & Anderson, R. E. (2019). Multivariate data analysis. Cengage.
Iyer, L. S. (2018). Knowledge, Attitude and Behaviour (KAB) of Student Community Towards Electronic Waste—A Case Study (SSRN Scholarly Paper 3409749). Social Science Research Network. https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=3409749.
Jinn, L. S., Hai, T. K., Qing, L. Y., & Loong, G. B. (2023). KAP model of reduce, reuse and recycle (3Rs): A case study of Malaysia. 2500, 020041. American Institute of Physics Conference Series. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0110933.
Kaza, S., Yao, L., Bhada-Tata, P., & Van Woerden, F. (2018). What a waste 2.0: A global snapshot of solid waste management to 2050. World Bank Publications.
KLHK. (2023). SIPSN - Sistem informasi pengelolaan sampah nasional. https://sipsn.menlhk.go.id/sipsn/public/data/timbulan.
Kundu, D. K., Sarker, S., Khan, A. Y., & Samadder, M. (2021). Beyond knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP): A study on the COVID-19 pandemic situation in Bangladesh. Social Science Review, 38(1), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.3329/ssr.v38i1.56523.
Lavene, H. (1960). Robust tests for equality of variances. In I. Olkin, et al., Eds., Contributions to Probability and Statistics: Essays in Honor of Harold Hotelling (pp. 278–292). Stanford University Press.
Law, J.-W., Lye, C.-T., & Ng, T.-H. (2023). Can environmental literacy and integrated behavioral factors encourage green practices at home? Evidence from Malaysia. Cleaner and Responsible Consumption, 10, 100134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clrc.2023.100134.
Limon, M. R., Vallente, J. P. C., & Corales, N. C. T. (2020). Solid waste management beliefs and practices in rural households towards sustainable development and pro-environmental citizenship. Global Journal of Environmental Science and Management, 6(4), 441–456. https://doi.org/10.22034/gjesm.2020.04.02.
Ling, K. W. K., Yeung, M. P. S., & Chan, E. Y. Y. (2018). Assessing plastic waste management literacy among villagers with low literacy level in rural, ethnic minority context. 第六屆亞洲健康識能國際會議. https://doi.org/10.6881/AHLA.201810.SQ06.
Miles, M. B., Huberman, A. M., & Saldana, J. (2013). Qualitative data analysis: A methods sourcebook. SAGE Publications.
Minelgaitė, A., & Liobikienė, G. (2019). Waste problem in European Union and its influence on waste management behaviours. Science of The Total Environment, 667, 86–93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.02.313.
Naga, D. S. (2012). Teori sekor pada pengukuran mental/ Dali Santun Naga. Nagarani Citrayasa.
OECD. (2010). PISA 2009 Assessment framework: Key competencies in reading, Mathematics and science. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
O’Flaherty, J., & Liddy, M. (2018). The impact of development education and education for sustainable development interventions: A synthesis of the research. Environmental Education Research, 24(7), 1031–1049. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2017.1392484.
Pauw, J. B., Gericke, N., Olsson, D., & Berglund, T. (2015). The Effectiveness of education for sustainable development. Sustainability, 7(11), https://doi.org/10.3390/su71115693.
Puji, L. K. R., Ayu, N., & Hasan, M. (2020). Perilaku pengelolaan dan pembuangan sampah pada ibu rumah tangga di RW 04 Kelurahan Kedaung, Kecamatan Pamulang, Kota Tangerang Selatan. Edu Masda Journal, 4(1), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.52118/edumasda.v4i1.47.
Raghu, S. J., & Rodrigues, L. L. R. (2022). Solid waste management behavior among the student community: Integrating environmental knowledge and situational factors into the theories of planned behavior and value belief norm. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 65(10), 1842–1874. https://doi.org/10.1080/09640568.2021.1949969.
Razali, N. M., & Wah, Y. B. (2011). Power comparisons of Shapiro-Wilk, Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Lilliefors and Anderson-Darling tests. Journal of Statistical Modeling and Analytics, 2(1), 21–33.
Sahu, C., & Mishra, S. (2023). Public perception on municipal solid waste management: A case of India. International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 20(4), 4189–4202. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-022-04108-9.
Siskayanti, J., & Chastanti, I. (2022). Analisis karakter peduli lingkungan pada siswa sekolah dasar. Jurnal Basicedu, 6(2), 1508–1516. https://doi.org/10.31004/basicedu.v6i2.2151.
Spínola, H. (2023). Environmental literacy for waste management in an academic community: A case study. Journal of STEAM Education, 6(2), 119-142. https://doi.org/10.55290/steam.1128303.
Stöckert, A., & Bogner, F. X. (2020). Cognitive learning about waste management: How relevance and interest influence long-term Knowledge. Education Sciences, 10(4), Article 4. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci10040102.
Sulistyawati, S., Sukesi, T. W., Mulasari, S. A., Tentama, F., & Djannah, S. N. (2020). Knowledge, attitude and practice towards waste management among primary school children. Asian Journal of Education and Social Studies, 24–30. https://doi.org/10.9734/ajess/2020/v8i430234.
Suwerda, B., Sudibiyakto, S., & Kurniawan, A. (2018). Hubungan tingkat pengetahuan dan sikap masyarakat dalam mengelola sampah berbasis bank sampah di Kabupaten Bantul. Sanitasi: Jurnal Kesehatan Lingkungan, 9(3), 100-104. https://doi.org/10.29238/sanitasi.v9i3.762.
Waluyo, & Kharisma, D. B. (2023). Circular economy and food waste problems in Indonesia: Lessons from the policies of leading countries. Cogent Social Sciences, 9(1), 2202938. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2023.2202938.
WHO. (2008). Advocacy, communication and social mobilization for TB control: A guide to developing knowledge, attitude and practice surveys. WHO/HTM/STB/2008.46. WHO IRIS.
World Bank. (2023). Sustainable cities & communities SDG 11: Sustainable cities & communities. Atlas of Sustainable Development Goals 2023.
Yap, J., Lee, V. J., Yau, T. Y., Ng, T. P., & Tor, P.-C. (2010). Knowledge, attitudes and practices towards pandemic influenza among cases, close contacts, and healthcare workers in tropical Singapore: A cross-sectional survey. BMC Public Health, 10, 442. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-10-442.
Yusuf, R., & Fajri, I. (2022). Differences in behavior, engagement and environmental knowledge on waste management for science and social students through the campus program. Heliyon, 8(2), e08912. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e08912.
Zhou, Y., İnce, F., Teng, H., Kaabar, M. K. A., Xu, J., & Yue, X.-G. (2022). Waste management within the scope of environmental public awareness based on cross-sectional survey and social interviews. Frontiers in Environmental Science, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.1030525
Copyright (c) 2025 Khaerun Nisa, St Aflahah, AM Saifullah Aldeia, Loes Witteveen, Rico Lie

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Jurnal Cakrawala Pendidikan, Jurnal Ilmiah Pendidikan, with ISSN: 0216-1370, is published by the Institute of Education Development and Quality Assurance (LPPMP UNY). Cakrawala Pendidikan has been recently has been re-accredited by Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture decision Number 230/E/KPT/2022 which is valid for five years since enacted on 30 December 2022.




