The aim of this article is to analyze the opinion of the citizens of Gijon
who use the services of a cleaning firm (EMULSA) about the possible impleme
ntation of a more complex management of municipal solid waste in this city.
We will study the citizens' views about environmental problems caused by m
unicipal solid waste. We analyze different matters related to the functions
of EMULSA and the citizens' attitudes to a separate collection of paper, c
ardboard, glass and batteries. A main goal of this article is to study if t
he knowledge about damage caused on the natural environment by municipal so
lid waste and the availability of special containers influences citizen's a
ttitudes. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.