Investigating the education level and specialty of managers and experts in Waste Management Organizations of Iranian cities

Abstract

Background and Purpose: Various factors are involved in proper waste management. One of the most important and effective components is the scientific and specialized capability of experts and managers working in the waste management field. This research was conducted to investigate the education level and specialty of managers and experts of waste management in cities of Iran. Materials and Methods: In order to conduct this research, a special checklist was developed and sent to waste management organizations in 31 provinces of Iran in an official letter. Data were collected from 15 waste management organizations of different provinces of Iran and they were analyzed using SPSS software. Results: The research results revealed that there are about 29 unrelated fields of education, 6 semi-related fields of education, and 2 completely related fields of education) including environmental health engineering and environmental engineering( at various positions in waste management organizations. Only 8.14% of managers and experts had a specialty in completely related fields of study and 33.22% of them were graduates of semi-related fields of study and 58.64% of them graduates of completely unrelated fields of study, working in waste management organizations in the studied provinces. Conclusion: Based on the research results and also Clause 28 of Waste Management Legislation, reviewing and modifying the process of personnel recruitment and using managers and experts with a relevant specialty in waste management organizations as one of the most effective factors in enhancing the current undesirable condition of waste management seems to be essential.

Keywords

• iran
• administrative capacity
• waste management organizations
• solid waste
• human resource management