Exploring the motivations and obstacles of the public's garbage classification participation: evidence from Sina Weibo

Abstract

China has been implementing garbage classification to improve resource recycling for many years. Since garbage classification is essentially a social activity, it needs the active participation of the public. However, the phenomenon of "high practice, low effect" is widespread in most cities. Therefore, this paper uses the data from Sina Weibo to analyze the reasons for the poor garbage classification effect. First, the key factors affecting residents' willingness to participate in garbage classification are identified based on the text-mining method. Further, this paper analyzes the reasons that promote or hinder the residents' intention of garbage classification. Finally, the resident's attitude towards garbage classification is explored by the score of the text's emotional orientation, and further the reasons for the positive and negative emotional orientation are analyzed, respectively. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) The proportion of residents holding negative sentiment towards garbage classification is as high as 55%. (2) Residents' positive emotions are mainly caused by the public's sense of environmental protection inspired by publicity and education, and the incentive measures taken by the government. (3) The main reasons for negative emotions are imperfect infrastructure and unreasonable garbage sorting arrangements.

Domestic Garbage Classification and Incentive-Based Policies in China: An Empirical Analysis

“…ELE is positively correlated with PUN (p < 0.01), indicating that residents who live in buildings without elevators are more inclined to accept DGC punishments (Table 5). Evidence showed that the primary causes of residents' negative emotions are flawed infrastructure and illogical waste-sorting practices [52]. Referring to this evidence, the study attributes this result to the fact that a quarter not equipped with an elevator is less convenient for garbage disposal and more likely to be dirty and that residents want to correct the behavior of others and maintain a tidy living environment through punitive measures.…”

“…One of the important reasons for this is the efficient use of technologies for garbage classification followed by effective management and recycling of garbage [8]. Since 2000, the amount of rural solid waste in China has been increasing rapidly and largely under the radar: it has grown from 46,700 million tons (Mt) in 2013 to 52,200 Mt in 2019 [9]. Subsequently, around 30-60% of rural garbage was mismanaged, leading to environmental degradation and economic losses [10].…”