Ebrahim Fataei - Associate professor of the department of Environmental Sciences, Ardabil Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ardebil, Iran
Somayeh Hemmati - MSc in of the department of Environmental Sciences, Ardabil Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ardebil, Iran
Ali Akbar Imani - Assistant professor of the department of Agriculture, Ardabil Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ardebil

Background and purpose: The source waste separation plan is one of the important purposes of environmental protection and urban management. The waste management of Ardabil province was impossible without considering the people’s role in producing waste. Therefore, the present study was conducted in 2017 with aim of creating a culture of source separation and reduction of waste and training the residents of regions 1 and 2 of Ardabil in a randomized systematic way Materials and methods: The present semi-experimental study was conducted in regions 1 and 2 of Ardabil province. The number of sample in each region was 100 (50 as control, 50 as case population). In order to determine the effect of the profile of households in regions 1 and 2 and the effect of training on the amount of produced waste and the increase of awareness on source waste separation, two-step sampling, before and after training, was conducted in both groups. Beside a questionnaire also was completed before and after training. The results of the questionnaire were analyzed using SPSS software. Findings: The results showed the statistically significant relationship between the income and reduction of produced waste in region 1 and 2. Besides, the level of awareness and amount of the produced waste of households in regions 1 and 2 were stable in the first (before training) and second (after training) steps of the control group. On the other hand, in the case group, level of awareness in regions 1 and 2 was changed from low-medium (first step) to medium-high (second step). Also, amount of produced waste was reduced in second steps in the case group, especially in region 1. Conclusion: Increase of awareness level and reduction the amount of waste produced by households in regions 1 and 2 in the second stage of the case group indicated the effect of training as an intervention factor, on waste management. Therefore, the desirable education system should be selected according to the status of society and the cultural, social, and economic conditions of each region and it is advisable to use specialized staff with health and environmental views to train citizens in order to source waste separation and waste management

waste management, Public participation, training, Recovery, source reduction