Sociological survey in a municipality with a high level separate collection programme in an area suffering from a serious solid waste emergency

Behaviours, opinions and knowledge of citizens on MSW and separate collection were investigated in the city of Mercato San Severino, in the Campania region of Southern Italy that is an area suffering from a serious solid waste emergency. The image of heaps of rubbish in the streets of Naples and other nearby cities is only one side of the coin. Mercato San Severino has adopted an effective kerbside collection system since 2001 and a pay-as-you-throw program during 2005. Structured questionnaires were administered to a sample of 500 people. Chi-square tests of independence were applied to state whether the differences were statistically significant (5%). About 90% of the sample stated that the success of the separate collection programme was due to either the citizens and local authority or only the local authority, highlighting the leading role of the local authority and confirming that trust is the key to any social program success. The registered level of knowledge was better than that of nearby university students and citizens. The higher the education level, the greater the level of knowledge was