This article discusses the problems of municipal waste disposal, i.e. its disposal sites in the community, which is experiencing a constant growth in the tourist offer while attempts are being made to solve the problem of rehabilitation of the existing municipal waste disposal site, and to build a new county center for waste management, including an incinerator. The aim of the research is to examine the views of the citizens of the city of Split, the urban center of Split-Dalmatia County, about the presence of the NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) syndrome, i.e. their fear and distrust towards solving the problem of municipal waste disposal and choosing a location for a new landfill. The focus will be on the attitudes related to trust in waste management institutions. This belongs to the part of quantitative research, carried out with a survey questionnaire, on a sample of citizens of the city of Split (N=450) through on-line biased sampling. Furthermore, using the qualitative method, i.e. the purposeful sampling technique, interviews were conducted with representatives of city management, experts, the media and civil society organizations who deal with this issue. In this context, the focus is on their experiences and efforts in the creation, implementation and presentation of public policies to solve this problem. The results of the quantitative research show average trust of citizens in certain management structures of local and national authorities, and other professional and civil stakeholders, and a somewhat lower level of trust in public utility services and the media. They show the least confidence in the state bodies of the Republic of Croatia. The research results highlight, among other things, a lower degree of trust in the media than expected, given that for citizens the media is the main source of information when it comes to environmental problems in the area of the city of Split. It is generally concluded that the media, civil society organizations and political/management structures do not influence the perception of citizens and the creation of an image of current environmental problems in Split. In this sense, challenges arise regarding public communication of this problem, as well as citizens' ecological literacy, that is, basic knowledge about waste management cycles and the nature of municipal waste, and more active citizen participation in these cycles. Therefore, there is a need to develop training programs, such as citizen science for waste management, to gain knowledge about this problem while developing greater public participation.