Factors Influencing Young People’s Intention toward Municipal Solid Waste Sorting

Abstract

With the rapid growth of urban economy and population in China, the output of municipal solid waste (MSW) has dramatically increased becoming a constant threat to residents’ living environment and health. The classification intention of residents plays a pivotal role in solving the problem of MSW disposal. While numerous studies have examined the classification behavior of MSW from the perspective of ordinary residents and households, few studies have attempted to understand young people’s sorting intention. The novelty of this research is to explore the determinants that affect young people’s intention toward municipal solid waste sorting (MSWS) by extending the predictive factors of environmental concern and personal moral obligation into the theory of planned behavior (TPB). A sample of 524 young respondents from Hebei Province in China were used to conduct a structural equation model (SEM) validation. The empirical results revealed that, according to the rankings of significance, personal moral obligation, perceived behavioral control, and subjective norm had positive influences on young people’s intention toward MSWS, while attitude and environmental concern did not. Furthermore, the multi-group comparison showed that, compared with the male and rural group, the intention of female and urban respondents to classify MSW was not affected by subjective norms. Some targeted managerial implications were ultimately proposed to promote young people’s intention toward MSWS. This study contributes to the existing knowledge system of MSWS by revealing the classification intention of young people as a group. The findings and implications provide the government with useful insights for encouraging young people to actively participate in MSWS.

Household Waste Sorting and Engagement in Everyday Life Occupations After Migration—A Scoping Review

“…However, the notion of ethics and moral can be important determinants for the waste sorting engagement, even if they do not directly respond to the notion of the environment. Young people in China have been shown to sort waste rather because of the moral obligation they feel to act in a certain way along with the perception of the behavioral control and subjective norms rather than attitude or concerns for the environment [86]. A Slovenian study confirmed that the three key aspects in the ethical decision making regarding whether or not to participate in waste sorting are moral recognition, moral judgement and moral intention [87].…”

“…Incentives to sort and the individual waste sorting behavior has been studied among ordinary residents of different countries and areas, as well as in the context of their affluence and other socio-demographical aspects [30,63,86,[90][91][92]. However, none of these studies aimed to understand incentives to engage in waste sorting specifically among immigrants.…”

Convention Tourism and Sustainability: Exploring Influencing Factors on Delegate Green Behavior That Reduce Environmental Impacts

“…A green attitude is undoubtedly a crucial driver of diverse green intentions/activities contributing to the enhancement of the prediction power of any theoretical framework for such intentions/activities [24][25][26]. Indeed, many empirical studies have provided evidence that attitudes toward an eco-friendly product are positively and significantly linked to pro-environmental purchase intentions toward the product [22,24,25,27]. If customers hold a green attitude that is favorable for a particular green behavior, they are likely to practice it and be willing to accept possible inconveniences related to the behavior [25,27].…”

“…Indeed, many empirical studies have provided evidence that attitudes toward an eco-friendly product are positively and significantly linked to pro-environmental purchase intentions toward the product [22,24,25,27]. If customers hold a green attitude that is favorable for a particular green behavior, they are likely to practice it and be willing to accept possible inconveniences related to the behavior [25,27].…”

“…The concept of social norms, along with attitudes, is widely employed as a major component of sociopsychology theories explaining one's intention formation and behavior [12,23,[27][28][29]. Many studies in the present consumer behavior literature have demonstrated that the stronger the perceived social pressure is among customers regarding practicing a specific behavior, the more they are ready and willing to perform the behavior [12,21].…”