Behavioral aspects of solid waste management: A systematic review

Boosting beach clean-up participation through community resilience hypothetical scenarios

Engaging coastal communities in beach clean-up initiatives is crucial for the sustainability of marine ecosystems and the support of the blue economy. This study aims to examine the influence of various resilience attributes on community willingness to participate in these activities. It uses choice experiment framework to test three distinct scenarios: (1) cultural recycling education, (2) social media task force, and (3) resilience debris recovery. The study surveyed 647 valid samples from metropolitan Bali, Indonesia to assess their preferences across these scenarios. Advanced econometric models, specifically the Random Parameter Logit (RPL) and Latent Class Model (LCM), were used to analyze the data. The results indicate that integrating cultural and digital engagement strategies can significantly enhance community participation in beach clean-ups, providing a model that can be applied in various coastal regions. Each scenario improves community engagement by aligning beach clean-up efforts with broader economic and cultural dynamics.

From perception to action: Waste management challenges in Kassena Nankana East Municipality

This study examines the perceptions and behaviours related to waste management (WM) among residents of the Kassena Nankana East Municipality in Ghana. A mixed-method approach was used to garner data from 394 household respondents, and the data was analysed using SPSS software. The findings reveal a weak correlation between educational attainment and effective waste management practices and a mildly positive correlation between waste awareness and the effectiveness of policies and legislation. Notably, a significant proportion of respondents preferred open burning (42.1 %) and dumping (18.8 %) as disposal methods, indicating critical areas for intervention. The study introduces a novel comprehensive analysis by integrating attitude formation, collective action, and institutional and rational choice theories to understand WM behaviours. This theoretical integration significantly contributes to the field, providing a heterogeneous understanding of the factors influencing WM practices. Furthermore, the research identifies key gaps in WM infrastructure and public engagement, offering innovative recommendations to address these challenges. This study's significant outputs include identifying specific community behaviours towards waste disposal and evaluating the effectiveness of existing WM policies. These findings provide actionable insights for policymakers and stakeholders to develop targeted interventions that promote sustainable WM practices. The study's contributions and recommendations are crucial for advancing environmental sustainability efforts in similar contexts, aligning with the Sustainable Development Goals.

Pro-environmental behavior regarding single-use plastics reduction in urban-rural communities of Thailand: Implication for public policy

The study investigates residents' behavior towards reducing the use of single-use plastic (SUP), specifically in the context of food packaging. The widespread view holds that pro-environmental behavior (PB) results from a person's moral and rational deliberations. In reducing single-use plastic (SUP) consumption and waste, the relative roles of rationality and morality models in validating PB among rural and urban residents are not yet clear. In this empirical study, we compared the relative efficacy of two models for explaining people's SUP reduction behavior: the theory of planned behavior (TPB; rationality) and the value belief norm (VBN; morality). We investigated Thailand's rural (Sichang Island) and metropolitan (Nonthaburi city) areas. As a result, we surveyed people living on Sichang Island (n = 255) and in Nonthaburi city (n = 310). We employed structural equation modeling (SEM) for data analysis in this study. Findings showed that while morality better justified all the study participants' SUP reduction behavior, rationality underpinned behaviors of rural residents, while morality better explained the actions of city residents. We discussed future theoretical development and a policy roadmap based on these findings.

Smart waste management 4.0: The transition from a systematic review to an integrated framework

Smart Waste Management (SWM) discusses the waste management process for different types of waste while introducing an intelligent approach to controlling the amount of waste. This paper introduces SWM4.0, which applies Industry4.0 (I4.0) technologies in various related events. First, the paper presents a systematic literature review on the role of I4.0 technologies in SWM activities regarding waste types, waste management processes, and 5R strategies. Then, existing solutions supporting SWM4.0 are extracted to develop a framework for exploring the use of I4.0 technologies. This framework includes sharing the four main pillars that contribute to the success of SWM4.0, namely smart people, smart cities, smart enterprises, and smart factories. Furthermore, this review suggests the possibility of unifying and extending existing solutions and identifying the necessary links and interfaces for researchers. For managerial implications, the framework identifies future strategies to fulfill specific SWM tasks and to foster new technological solutions for future research.

Predicting the Intention to Sort Waste at Home in Rural Communities in Lebanon: An Application of the Theory of Planned Behaviour

Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) such as Lebanon have limited technical, economic, and social infrastructures to manage municipal solid waste properly. Understanding what motivates citizens to sort waste at home is paramount to designing effective, efficient, and equitable waste management interventions. Within the solid waste management project “RES-Q” in Southern Lebanon, we investigated the socio-cognitive predictors of waste sorting in a sample of 767 households from the targeted area using the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). Perceived behavioural control (β = 0.96, p < 0.001), perceived norms (β = −0.30, p < 0.001), and current behaviour (β = 0.06, p < 0.001) were the strongest predictors of intention; attitude toward separating waste was not a significant predictor (β = 0.04, p = 0.3881). Consequently, future behavioural interventions should build capability and opportunity to perform the behaviour before normalising it. For example, citizens should receive bins and bags to separate waste and be shown how to perform the behaviour and how easy and convenient it is to increase their behavioural control. In parallel, waste collection and treatment infrastructures must be in place so that citizens can see that sorting waste is a social norm. These actions will ensure the success of future behavioural interventions within the RES-Q project and beyond.

Factors Influencing Household Waste Separation Behavior: Cases of Russia and Finland

This paper investigates the factors influencing the behavior of individuals in source-separation of municipal solid waste in an immature system for collection of recyclable waste (Saint Petersburg, Russia) and a more mature waste system (selected urban areas, Finland). Online questionnaires were applied to collect data from citizens of Saint Petersburg and the Finnish urban population. The data were examined within an extended theory of planned behavior using structural equation modeling for the identification of factors affecting waste source-separation behavior. The findings indicate that the factors differed significantly in the two waste systems. In Russia, the inconvenience of waste collection limited waste source-separation behavior, while intentions of individuals and information availability had an almost equal positive effect. In Finland, waste source-separation behavior was mostly affected by people’s intentions. Based on the findings, recommendations for the development of recycling practices were made for practitioners in Russia and possibly other early-stage systems for the collection of recyclable waste. Limitations of the study pinpointed the possibilities for future research.