Barriers to compulsory waste sorting for a circular economy in China
Barriers to compulsory waste sorting for a circular economy in China
Household waste source separation substantially reduces the amount of rubbish sent to landfills and incinerators. It enables value recovery from useful waste for transitioning to a more resource efficient and circular economy. Confronted by the severe waste management problems, China recently implemented its most strict compulsory waste sorting program in big cities to date. Despite the failures of waste sorting projects in China in the past, it is unclear what the implementation barriers are, how they interact, and how they can be overcome. This study addresses this knowledge gap through a systematic barrier study involving all the relevant stakeholders in Shanghai and Beijing. It uncovers the complex interrelationships between barriers using the fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (Fuzzy DEMATEL) method. “Hasty and inappropriate planning” and “lack of policy support at the grassroots level”, two new barriers that are not reported in the literature, are found to be the most influential barriers. Policy implications are discussed based on the study findings to inform the policy deliberations on the implementation of compulsory waste sorting.
Barrier, China, Circular economy, Household waste management, Municipal waste management, Waste sorting
Zhang, Abraham
05a32f7a-2b19-4173-b06a-772c7cbb9c9a
Xie, Shenghao
218c6b7c-71c9-4acf-b995-05aad9557d8d
Gong, Yu (Jack)
86c8d37a-744d-46ab-8b43-18447ccaf39c
Li, Changjun
0500da25-f202-4523-a0fa-7f2a803e434a
Liu, Yanping
3f59bc45-2d22-44ef-bfea-4660bbfddf22
15 September 2023
Zhang, Abraham
05a32f7a-2b19-4173-b06a-772c7cbb9c9a
Xie, Shenghao
218c6b7c-71c9-4acf-b995-05aad9557d8d
Gong, Yu (Jack)
86c8d37a-744d-46ab-8b43-18447ccaf39c
Li, Changjun
0500da25-f202-4523-a0fa-7f2a803e434a
Liu, Yanping
3f59bc45-2d22-44ef-bfea-4660bbfddf22
Zhang, Abraham, Xie, Shenghao, Gong, Yu (Jack), Li, Changjun and Liu, Yanping
(2023)
Barriers to compulsory waste sorting for a circular economy in China.
Journal of Environmental Management, 342, [118180].
(doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.118180).
Abstract
Household waste source separation substantially reduces the amount of rubbish sent to landfills and incinerators. It enables value recovery from useful waste for transitioning to a more resource efficient and circular economy. Confronted by the severe waste management problems, China recently implemented its most strict compulsory waste sorting program in big cities to date. Despite the failures of waste sorting projects in China in the past, it is unclear what the implementation barriers are, how they interact, and how they can be overcome. This study addresses this knowledge gap through a systematic barrier study involving all the relevant stakeholders in Shanghai and Beijing. It uncovers the complex interrelationships between barriers using the fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (Fuzzy DEMATEL) method. “Hasty and inappropriate planning” and “lack of policy support at the grassroots level”, two new barriers that are not reported in the literature, are found to be the most influential barriers. Policy implications are discussed based on the study findings to inform the policy deliberations on the implementation of compulsory waste sorting.
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More information
Accepted/In Press date: 13 May 2023
e-pub ahead of print date: 17 May 2023
Published date: 15 September 2023
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
Dr. Abraham Zhang and Dr. Yanping Liu would like to acknowledge the funding support from the British Academy Small Research Grants ( SRG21\211282 ). The authors are very grateful for the support from research participants.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Elsevier Ltd
Keywords:
Barrier, China, Circular economy, Household waste management, Municipal waste management, Waste sorting
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 477445
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/477445
ISSN: 0301-4797
PURE UUID: 839608fd-6c4b-42c3-bbfe-f4726a47cbd0
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Date deposited: 06 Jun 2023 17:04
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 04:04
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Contributors
Author:
Abraham Zhang
Author:
Shenghao Xie
Author:
Changjun Li
Author:
Yanping Liu
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