Assessing the determinants of intentions and behaviors of organizations towards a circular economy for plastics

Abstract

Highlights This study empirically assesses the determinants of organizations’ intentions and organizations’ behaviors towards a circular economy for plastics. Attitudes and perceived behavioral control of corporate decision makers are the strongest predictors of organizations’ intentions and organizations’ behaviors respectively. Most organizations are willing to contribute to a circular economy for plastics, but they are failing to do so due to some critical barriers. This study suggests some measures to overcome this intention-behavior gap. Government or relevant institutions should provide incentives, disseminate knowledge, and establish networking platforms.

Integrating sociotechnical factors to assess efficacy of PV recycling and reuse interventions

“…Two purchasing options are also modeled: the purchase of new or used PV modules. For each type of agent, behavioral rules are defined based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), which is one of the most influential theories used to explain human behavior 13 and accounts for various factors affecting human decisions, such as economics and peer influence (Supplementary Table 1).…”

“…The TPB is often used in ABMs of socio-technical systems because it explains the process of individual decision making straightforwardly 21,24,57 and has been applied in many waste-management ABMs 21,22,24 . The theory explains consumers' decisions 58,59 as well as decisions within companies 13,[60][61][62] . In our ABM, a score is attributed to each EOL pathway according to the TPB.…”

“…Sovacool and Griffiths, for instance, report that culturally rooted driving behaviors influence adoption of fuel-efficient vehicles and ridesharing services 14 . However, current studies of material circularity are limited to technical and economic material efficiency potentials and do not account for consumer behavior 13,15 . This assessment means that major changes in the way CE is analyzed need to be undertaken 12,16,17 .…”

“…Adopting a social viewpoint to complement other perspectives could increase the effectiveness of circularity-promoting interventions. Social behaviors could play a critical role in developing secondary PV markets and managing EOL PV, because psychological and behavioral traits often undermine the viability of technical solutions [11][12][13][14] . Sovacool and Griffiths, for instance, report that culturally rooted driving behaviors influence adoption of fuel-efficient vehicles and ridesharing services 14 .…”

Comparing the Influence of Residual Stress on Composite Materials Made of Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) and Amorphous Hydrogenated Carbon (a-C:H) Layers: Differences Caused by Single Side and Full Substrate Film Attachment during Plasma Coating

“…Today, polymers have become an integral part of everyday life and are indispensable in many fields of application. More than 360 million tons have been produced in 2019 worldwide [ 1 ]. Since many polymers are based on crude oil, the growing demand for plastics not only leads to a higher oil consumption, putting further strain on fading reserves, but also further pollutes the environment through disposal (in 2017 more than 302 million tons of plastic were wasted) as degradation of these materials and their composites is usually difficult and protracted [ 2 , 3 ].…”