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Consumers’ willingness to pay an environmental fee for e-waste recycling in Vietnam: integrating the theory of planned behaviour and the norm activation model

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Abstract

E-waste is becoming a concern due to its toxic content and serious pollution effect. Many studies have focused on the detrimental impacts of hazardous e-waste and extended producer responsibility for e-waste recycling. There is, however, a lack of case studies from the perspectives of consumers’ awareness of e-waste, and willingness to pay (WTP) for e-waste recycling. An e-waste management system cannot be efficient when consumers are not actively involved in. Based on a survey of 544 respondents in Ho Chi Minh City, this paper investigates the respondents’ WTP for e-waste recycling and factors affecting their WTP by integrating the theory of planned behaviour and the norm activation model. The Contingent Valuation Method and Tobit model were applied to estimate and explain consumers’ WTP for e-waste recycling. The model showed that subjective/social norms, moral/personal norms, inconvenience of recycling, perception of e-waste pollution, age, home ownership, and income significantly affected WTP for e-waste recycling. The estimated mean WTP from the Tobit model was 1.588% (Televisions), 1.644% (Computers) and 1.656% (Mobile phones) of the purchasing bills. The findings are useful for policy-makers in developing more effective environmental management policies for e-waste.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from Nong Lam University under Grant No. CS-CB21-KT-06.

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Nong Lam University Ho Chi Minh City, No. CS-CB21-KT-06, THUYEN THI PHAM

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  1. Department of Development Economics, Faculty of Economics, Nong Lam University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

    Thuyen Thi Pham, Hoa Le Dang & Nhien Thi Pham

  2. Department of Agricultural, Resource and Environmental Economics, Faculty of Economics, Nong Lam University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

    Thanh Phuong Mai Lam

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Pham, T.T., Lam, T.P.M., Le Dang, H. et al. Consumers’ willingness to pay an environmental fee for e-waste recycling in Vietnam: integrating the theory of planned behaviour and the norm activation model. J Mater Cycles Waste Manag 25, 2900–2914 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-023-01723-7

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