An Analysis of Sociological Factors Influencing Household Waste Management: A Case Study of Bojnurd

Introduction
The rapid advancement and development of technology and the undesirable changes in life in some areas, especially in the field of consumption, have caused us to witness the accumulation of a large amount of waste today, especially in urban communities. If this waste is not managed properly, it is very harmful to both humans and the environment. In the present era, in most developed countries, environmental protection has become part of public culture and sensitivity to environmental issues is of great importance. Therefore, many countries have prioritized waste management in their programs. Waste management is considered one of the important projects in the field of environmental protection around the world, which means controlling waste-related activities with the aim of protecting the environment and preserving resources. One type of waste is household waste. Given that household waste and the environmental problems it causes, as well as the heavy costs associated with its management, are one of the most important problems in urban affairs and the lack of proper management of household waste leads to improper disposal of waste, which in turn can cause waste accumulation and create nuisance problems, unpleasant odors and environmental pollution, fires, and generally threaten the physical health of citizens . According to the head of the Environmental Protection Organization, 48,000 tons of household waste are produced in the country daily, which is 150 grams higher than the global per capita, therefore, in our country, the discussion of household waste management has a different nature and the application of any method and technology will not be possible without examining sociological factors . Salehi et al. (2019) believe that people's behavior regarding household waste management has a positive relationship with sociological factors such as environmental value, environmental knowledge, environmental attitude, social responsibility, social interactions, and social trust . Currently, population growth and changing consumption patterns in Bojnourd city have led to increasing production of household waste and the emergence of environmental pollution such as water resource pollution, garbage accumulation, lack of green space per capita, and destruction of natural landscapes within and around the city, which has led to a decline in the city's environmental quality indicators. Given that more than 135 tons of waste are produced daily in Bojnourd city and the average per capita waste production is 560 grams, Bojnourd city is one of the cities with the lowest per capita level of waste separation at source, as this statistic in Bojnourd city is 2 percent. In this regard, to improve the current situation, the aim of the present study was to investigate sociological factors affecting household waste management in Bojnourd city.
 
Methodology
This applied study employs a descriptive-analytical approach to investigate the subject matter. The target population comprised 228,931 citizens of Bojnurd aged 20 and above. Utilizing Cochran’s formula, a sample of 383 participants was selected through a combination of cluster and simple random sampling techniques (Table 1). Data were gathered via a two-part structured questionnaire: the first section addressed demographic variables (age, gender, and education), while the second consisted of a researcher-developed survey using a five-point Likert scale (ranging from 1 = “Strongly Disagree” to 5 = “Strongly Agree”).
The instrument’s reliability was confirmed using Cronbach’s alpha and Composite Reliability (CR) (Table 2). For validity, Convergent Validity was assessed through Average Variance Extracted (AVE) (Table 3), while Discriminant Validity was established using the Fornell-Larcker (2006) criterion (Table 3). To evaluate the structural model’s quality, R2R^2R2 and Q2Q^2Q2 predictive relevance metrics were employed. Finally, the hypothesized relationships were tested using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) via SmartPLS 3 software.
 
Findings
The results show that economic capital, utilitarianism, environmental values, lifestyle, consumerism, cultural capital, social and economic base have an impact on household waste management by 0.313, 0.321, 0.495, -0.121, -0.116, 0.377 and -0.108, respectively.
 
Discussion and Conclusion
Today, household waste is one of the important issues in the field of urban issues, and its planning and management have complex social and economic dimensions. Planning in this area requires building a culture at the community level and using modern methods to reduce the destructive effects of the environment. Given the expansion of human activities and the production of various types of waste, the scope of household waste planning is very wide and variable. Since household waste planning requires the cooperation and participation of citizens and relevant officials, and the lack of responsibility of one of these two leads to irreparable environmental damage and poses serious challenges to urban sustainability, success in this field requires scientific research. Based on the results obtained, the following suggestions are presented: Holding educational and cultural sessions on environmental protection and waste management in mosques based on religious teachings.Designing and implementing separated waste collection systems in different neighborhoods in order to improve waste management and reduce environmental pollution.