Government and residents’ participation in waste separation is a complex non-cooperative game process, and the evolutionary game can explain the behavior of participating subjects well. Considering that the traditional evolutionary game cannot satisfactorily explain the irrational psychology and risk preference factors of the participating issues, this study combines the prospect theory and evolutionary game, uses the prospect value function to supplement and improve the parameters of the evolutionary game payment matrix, and analyzes the evolutionary stabilization strategy. To verify the theoretical results, simulation experiments and impact analysis were conducted, and meaningful results were obtained: There are two stable evolutionary strategies in the system, namely higher participation benefits for residents and lower participation costs and opportunity costs, and reasonable direct benefit distribution coefficients all help to increase the participation rate of waste separation. This study can provide some scientific suggestions for the government to design and build a waste-separation system.

The distributivity and complexity of separation facilities in waste separation cooperation are incorporated into the factors influencing the payoff of waste separation cooperation. The game payment matrix of waste separation cooperation is constructed based on the distributivity and complexity of separation facilities. The equilibrium solution of waste separation cooperation is obtained through the evolutionary game. The influence of different changes in distributivity and complexity of separation facilities on the willingness to cooperate in waste separation is explored through numerical analysis of cases. The study shows that when the distributivity of separation facilities is certain, the lower the complexity of separation facilities, the higher the willingness of residents and enterprises to cooperate; when the complexity of separation facilities is certain, the willingness of residents and enterprises to cooperate rises and then falls with the increase of distributivity of separation facilities; finally, when the distributivity and complexity of separation facilities change at the same time, the willingness of residents and enterprises to cooperate shows different changes with the different changes of two separation facilities convenience factors.

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Research on waste separation promotion policies is of great theoretical and practical significance for the universal implementation of the domestic waste separation system. This paper constructs a non-cooperative tripartite evolutionary game model that includes central command, local deployment, and enterprise performance. An evolutionary game approach was used to analyze the strategic choices of the central government, local government, and separation enterprises in waste separation promotion, and this study investigated the factors influencing the evolution of these choices using numerical simulations. The findings indicated the following: central government, local governments, and separation enterprises are affected differently by their respective willingness to participate; the behavior of separation enterprises is less influenced by the central government’s and local governments’ willingness to participate and is primarily influenced by market factors, whereas local government is more influenced by the central government’s willingness to participate; and local government and classification enterprises are affected differently by their respective willingness to participate. While separation firms are more susceptible to the cost-sharing, income, and revenue distribution coefficient, local governments are more responsive to policy support. The promotion of waste separation in China requires strengthened centralized waste management to avoid the failure of local waste separation, broadening of the scope of central funding incentives and establishing local separation compensation mechanisms, clarifying local waste separation performance responsibilities and new waste tax collection standards, supporting separation enterprises’ technological innovation and guiding public participation in waste separation, creating an environment for waste separation, and deepening the study of waste separation accordingly.