Obasi N. Nmere

Waste management has posed a lot of threats to both humanity and the stability of the natural environment. This study specifically investigated whether public relations’ media enlightenment campaign has any significant influence on waste management and also studied whether public relations’ community participation has any significant influence on waste management. The population of the study consists of residents of Enugu metropolis. Survey method was adopted for the study, and the sample size of 384 residents were determined using Cochran’s method. Cronbach’s Alpha was used to determine the reliability of 0.980. Using the convenience sampling technique, the questionnaires were distributed to 384 residents, and 295 of them were duly filled and validated. Using simple linear regression for data analysis, the findings revealed that public relations’ media public enlightenment campaign strategy has a significant influence on waste management (r = 0.933; t = 76.736; F = 5888.365; p < 0.05). Similarly, it was revealed that public relations’ community participation strategy has a significant influence on waste management (r = 0.930; t = 76.280; F = 5667.029; p < 0.05). Ergo, there is a need to improve on media public enlightenment campaign strategy towards educating and encouraging waste management behavior among residents through an adequate traditional and social media awareness campaign. Also, residents should be encouraged to participate actively and meaningfully in environmental waste management issues in Enugu metropolis. The implication is that residents will be more conscious of managing their wastes effectively as a result of adequate information gathering from the media and participation in waste management activities.

Acknowledgment
In the course of this study, a few research assistants contributed immensely in gathering primary data from the districts where the study was conducted. They include Ayogu Victor, Ayogu Boniface, Okolo Valentine, and Agu O. Agu.