DIMAPUR, OCT 5 (NPN): A Nagaland University (NU) study has found that community expectations and social norms strongly influenced how people handled plastic waste, suggesting that waste-management strategies should work through trusted local institutions and community networks rather than awareness campaigns alone.
The study examined factors influencing plastic-waste handling among 226 residents across Kohima, Dimapur and Chümoukedima districts, supplemented by open-ended responses from 131 respondents and in-depth interviews with 10 others.
Data were collected between June and December 2025. The findings showed that subjective norms– the expectations and behaviour of people around an individual– were the strongest correlate of self-reported plastic-handling practices. Personal attitudes towards plastic waste were also associated with behaviour, while cultural values correlated with reported practices. However, researchers cautioned that the cultural-values measure had low reliability and should not be treated as an established independent driver.
The study also highlighted a gap between awareness and action. Respondents strongly agreed that plastic was harmful to the environment, with an average score of 4.77 out of five, but reported considerably lower access to waste-disposal facilities and confidence in waste segregation, scoring about 2.7 to 3.2.
NU head of agricultural engineering and technology department, Prof. Prabhakar Sharma, said residents identified lack of awareness, inadequate infrastructure and weak enforcement as major barriers to responsible plastic-waste management. He said the findings pointed to an integrated approach combining community-level interventions with improved waste collection and segregation systems.
Researchers said village councils, religious organisations and youth groups could help translate existing community values into contemporary environmental practices. Participants cited traditional beliefs and community practices as encouraging cleanliness and responsible living, although these traditions were not developed specifically for the scale of present-day plastic pollution.
NU vice-chancellor Prof. Jagadish Kumar Patnaik said the study highlighted the role of community norms, cultural values and collective responsibility in addressing plastic waste. He added that sustainable waste management required infrastructure and institutional mechanisms alongside community participation and behavioural change.
NU head of the department of teacher education, Prof. Gyanendra Nath Tiwari, said respondents most frequently suggested greater awareness, improved waste-management infrastructure and stricter enforcement, followed by reduce-reuse-recycle practices, community clean-up drives and incentives.
The study, co-authored by Sharma and Tiwari, was published in Environmental and Sustainability Indicators, an Elsevier open-access journal covering environmental management, policy and sustainability. Its publication fee was supported through the Government of India’s One Nation One Subscription initiative.
The researchers cautioned that the findings were based on self-reported behaviour and did not establish cause-and-effect relationships. The sample was relatively young and male and should not be considered representative of Nagaland’s entire population.
They called for longitudinal studies, validation of self-reported practices against observed behaviour and infrastructure, and further research into whether infrastructure indirectly influences behaviour by shaping community norms. They also recommended better-validated measures of cultural values and attitudes.
