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Farmers' participation into the recovery of waste agricultural plastic film: An application of the Theory of Planned Behavior.

Authors :
Zhao, Ze-Ying
Li, Wen-Bo
Wang, Peng-Yang
Tao, Hong-Yan
Zhou, Rui
Cui, Jin-Ying
Zhang, Jian
Tian, Tao
Zhao, Xu-Zhe
Wang, Yi-Bo
Xiong, You-Cai
Source :
Waste Management. Sep2023, Vol. 169, p253-266. 14p.
Publication Year :
2023

Abstract

• Waste plastic film recovery program of Old for New was investigated in northwest China. • Theory of planned behavior (TPB) was extended to explain farmers' participation. • The attitude was as a key factor influencing the intention of recycling behavior. • Plastic film usage & household characteristics evidently affected recycling behavior. • Role of TPB-based compulsory environmental education was highlighted in program. This study aims to address the lack of relevant researches in the field of waste recycling using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). A village-scale social survey was conducted to investigate the degree of farmers' participation in a waste plastic film program, i.e. Old for New in northwest China. The program required farmers to recycle plastic film residues in exchange for new films. Survey results showed that 67.5% of farmers accepted the program, yet only 14.5% of them actually participated. Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze questionnaire data and identify the factors that significantly affected farmers' recycling behavior. Principal component and weight analysis further showed that farmers' participation was mainly influenced by their attitudes (p < 0.01), with a relative weight (RW) of 46.3%. Yet, subjective norms (p < 0.1) and perceived behavior control (p < 0.1) had less effect on the degree of participation, and their RWs were 4.2% and 4.1% only, respectively. Moreover, the RW of plastic film usage characteristics and household characteristics reached up to 13.2% and 6.4%, respectively. Interestingly, environmental awareness (β = 0.083) and compulsory environmental education (β = 0.130) as surface factors strongly affected the farmers' adoption and response, with the RW of 25.7%. As such, the extended TPB model was established to analyze the participation behavior of farmers for stronger explanatory power. This study highlighted a promising strategy based on TPB for waste plastic film recycling and similar environmental management practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
0956053X
Volume :
169
Database :
Academic Search Index
Journal :
Waste Management
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
171367350
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2023.06.036