Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The willingness to household waste disposal practices of residents in rural China

  • ORIGINAL ARTICLE
  • Published:
Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The increasing amount of household waste is becoming one of the major challenges in the sustainable development of rural areas in China. As most rural areas in China have not initiated a waste classification program, here we aim to understand the willingness of rural residents to engage in household waste disposal practices. Based on rural residential data from a national survey, a multivariate Probit model is used to investigate the factors affecting waste classification and dumping willingness simultaneously in a model framework. The results show that there is a significant positive correlation between residents’ willingness to classify and their willingness to put waste in designated place. The level of education, income and the environmental awareness of rural residents have a significant positive impact on waste disposal willingness, whereas age has a negative impact thereon. Meanwhile, the level of education of the community leader and the relationship between villagers and the community administration also have a positive significant influence. Finally, some policy recommendations are proposed to improve the willingness of rural residents to engage in waste disposal practices.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Han Z, Liu Y, Zhong M, Shi G, Li Q, Zeng D et al (2018) Influencing factors of domestic waste characteristics in rural areas of developing countries. Waste Manag 72:45–54

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. The World Bank. World development indicators. http://wdi.worldbank.org/table/3.1. Accessed 21 Feb 2022

  3. Anwar S, Elagroudy S, Abdel Razik M, Gaber A, Bong CPC, Ho WS (2018) Optimization of solid waste management in rural villages of developing countries. Clean Technol Environ Policy 20:489–502

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Taghipour H, Amjad Z, Aslani H, Armanfar F, Dehghanzadeh R (2015) Characterizing and quantifying solid waste of rural communities. J Mater Cycles Waste Manag 18:790–797

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Onwuka OS, Ezugwu CK, Ifediegwu SI (2019) Assessment of the impact of onsite sanitary sewage system and agricultural wastes on groundwater quality in Ikem and its environs, south-eastern Nigeria. Geol Ecol Landsc 3:65–81

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Ahmed A, Nasir A, Basheer S, Arslan C, Anwar S (2019) Ground water quality assessment by using geographical information system and water quality index: a case study of Chokera, Faisalabad, Pakistan. Water Conserv Manag 3:7–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Textor C (2021) Urban and rural population of China 2010–2020. Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/278566/urban-and-rural-population-of-china/. Accessed 17 Oct 2021

  8. Triguero A, Álvarez-Aledo C, Cuerva M (2016) Factors influencing willingness to accept different waste management policies: empirical evidence from the European Union. J Clean Prod 138:38–46

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Tang L, Luo X, Zhang J (2019) Social supervision, group identity and farmers’ domestic waste centralized disposal behavior: an analysis based on mediation effect and regulation effect of the face concept. China Rural Surv 2:18–33 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Wang F, Cheng Z, Reisner A, Liu Y (2018) Compliance with household solid waste management in rural villages in developing countries. J Clean Prod 202:293–298

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Finn KR (2007) A Study of the households’ willingness to contribute to an improved solid waste management program in Kratovo. Michigan Technological University, Macedonia

    Google Scholar 

  12. Saphores J-DM, Ogunseitan OA, Shapiro AA (2012) Willingness to engage in a pro-environmental behavior: an analysis of e-waste recycling based on a national survey of US households. Resour Conserv Recycl 60:49–63

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Kattoua MG, Al-Khatib IA, Kontogianni S (2019) Barriers on the propagation of household solid waste recycling practices in developing countries: state of Palestine example. J Mater Cycles Waste Manag 21:774–785

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Zhang B, Lai K-H, Wang B, Wang Z (2019) From intention to action: How do personal attitudes, facilities accessibility, and government stimulus matter for household waste sorting? J Environ Manag 233:447–458

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Monella J, Leyaro V (2017) Determinants of households willingness to participate in solid waste separation for reduce, reuse and recycle: the case of Dar es Salaam. Tanzania Econ Rev 3:57–82

  16. Tobler C (2011) Green consumer behavior: consumers' knowledge and willingness to act pro-environmentally. ETH Zurich

  17. Takahashi Y, Nomura H, Yabe M (2019) Modeling home composting behavior toward sustainable municipal organic waste management at the source in developing countries. Resour Conserv Recycl 140:65–71

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Chikowore N (2021) Factors influencing household waste management practices in Zimbabwe. J Mater Cycles Waste Manag 23:386–393

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Bucciol A, Montinari N, Piovesan M (2019) It wasn’t me! Visibility and free riding in waste disposal. Ecol Econ 157:394–401

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Bueno M, Valente M (2019) The effects of pricing waste generation: a synthetic control approach. J Environ Econ Manag 96:274–285

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Meidiana C, Yakin HA, Wijayanti WP (2017) Household’s willingness to accept waste separation for improvement of rural waste bank’s effectivity. Solid Waste Manag Rural Areas 11:11–25

  22. Zhang H, Liu J, Wen Z-G, Chen Y-X (2017) College students’ municipal solid waste source separation behavior and its influential factors: a case study in Beijing. China. J Clean Prod 164:444–454

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Liu X, Wang Z, Li W, Li G, Zhang Y (2019) Mechanisms of public education influencing waste classification willingness of urban residents. Resour Conserv Recycl 149:381–390

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Meng X, Tan X, Wang Y, Wen Z, Tao Y, Qian Y (2019) Investigation on decision-making mechanism of residents’ household solid waste classification and recycling behaviors. Resour Conserv Recycl 140:224–234

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Li X, Bi F, Han Z, Qin Y, Wang H, Wu W (2019) Garbage source classification performance, impact factor, and management strategy in rural areas of China: a case study in Hangzhou. Waste Manag 89:313–321

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Liao C, Zhao D, Zhang S (2018) Psychological and conditional factors influencing staff’s takeaway waste separation intention: an application of the extended theory of planned behavior. Sustain Cities Soc 41:186–194

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Wang Z, Guo D, Wang X (2016) Determinants of residents’e-waste recycling behaviour intentions: evidence from China. J Clean Prod 137:850–860

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Wang B, Ren C, Dong X, Zhang B, Wang Z (2019) Determinants shaping willingness towards on-line recycling behaviour: an empirical study of household e-waste recycling in China. Resour Conserv Recycl 143:218–225

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Zhang B, Du Z, Wang B, Wang Z (2019) Motivation and challenges for e-commerce in e-waste recycling under “Big data” context: a perspective from household willingness in China. Technol Forecast Soc Change 144:436–444

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Stoeva K, Alriksson S (2017) Influence of recycling programmes on waste separation behaviour. Waste Manag 68:732–741

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Nainggolan D, Pedersen AB, Smed S, Zemo KH, Hasler B, Termansen M (2019) Consumers in a circular economy: economic analysis of household waste sorting behaviour. Ecol Econ 166:106402

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Aljaradin M, Persson KM, Alitawi H (2011) Public awareness and willingness for recycle in Jordan. Int J Acad Res 3:507–510

    Google Scholar 

  33. Zhou M-H, Shen S-L, Xu Y-S, Zhou A-N (2019) New policy and implementation of municipal solid waste classification in Shanghai, China. Int J Environ Res Public Health 16:3099

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Wang K, Lu J, Liu H (2021) Residents’ waste source separation behaviours in Shanghai, China. J Mater Cycles Waste Manag 23:937–949

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Nie Y, Wu Y, Zhao J, Zhao J, Chen X, Maraseni T et al (2018) Is the finer the better for municipal solid waste (MSW) classification in view of recyclable constituents? A comprehensive social, economic and environmental analysis. Waste Manag 79:472–480

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Liu H, Zhao P (2006) Modeling of agile manufacturing information system. In: International conference on technology and innovation, 2006, ITIC 2006, Hangzhou. IET Publisher, pp. 847–851. ISSN: 0537-9989

  37. Greene WH (2003) Econometric analysis. Pearson education, India

  38. Cappellari L, Jenkins SP (2003) Multivariate probit regression using simulated maximum likelihood. Stand Genom Sci 3:278–294

    Google Scholar 

  39. Bhawal Mukherji S, Sekiyama M, Mino T, Chaturvedi B (2016) Resident knowledge and willingness to engage in waste management in Delhi, India. Sustainability 8:1065

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Sidique SF, Lupi F, Joshi SV (2010) The effects of behavior and attitudes on drop-off recycling activities. Resour Conserv Recycl 54:163–170

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Kaur D, Sidhu M, Bal S (2015) A study on subjective assessment of indoor pollution among rural and urban homemakers of Ludhiana city. Asian J Environ Sci 10:96

    Google Scholar 

  42. Wu Z, Ann T, Shen L (2017) Investigating the determinants of contractor’s construction and demolition waste management behavior in Mainland China. Waste Manag 60:290–300

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Edjabou ME, Møller J, Christensen TH (2012) Solid waste characterization in Ketao, a rural town in Togo, West Africa. Waste Manag Res 30:745–749

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Mihai FC (2018) Waste collection in rural communities: Challenges under EU regulations. A case study of Neamt County, Romania. J Mater Cycles Waste Manag 20:1337–1347

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Rousta K, Zisen L, Hellwig C (2020) Household waste sorting participation in developing countries—a meta-analysis. Recycling 5:6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Wan M, Wan L (2020) Exploring the pathways to participation in household waste sorting in different national contexts: a fuzzy-set QCA approach. IEEE Access 8:179373–179388

    Article  Google Scholar 

  47. Alabi O, Emeghara U, Olumuyiwa S, Baba K, Omole E, Sanusi S et al (2021) Socio-economic factors influencing urban households willingness to pay for solid waste environmental management services in Abuja, Nigeria. Ethiop J Environ Stud Manag 14:645–653

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research is supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (2021A1515012599), Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation of Guangdong Province (2019A1515110170), and Basic and Applied Basic Research Project of Guangzhou (202002030189).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Economics, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, 611130, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China

    Shuang Hu

  2. Southwestern Poverty Reduction and Development Research Center, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, 611130, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China

    Shuang Hu

  3. Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 2 Nengyuan Road, Guangzhou, 510640, People’s Republic of China

    Jiaxin He

Authors
  1. Shuang Hu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jiaxin He
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jiaxin He.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Hu, S., He, J. The willingness to household waste disposal practices of residents in rural China. J Mater Cycles Waste Manag 24, 1124–1133 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-022-01384-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-022-01384-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation