Analysis of influencing mechanism on waste separation behavior in Shanghai

Residents are responsible for community waste separation, and their waste separation behavior plays a significant role in determining the success or failure rate of waste management. In industrializing countries, countries such as China, waste separation at the origin is a critical factor in the success of the entire strategy implementation. Establishing trash source-separated gathering relies primarily on resident engagement, which necessitates a full knowledge of how sentiments, behavioral intention, perceived behavioral control, and contextual circumstances influenced their overall behavior. This learning customs the theory of planned behavior to analyze waste separation practices in Shanghai, that will contribute to enhance the domestic household waste separation behavior measuring scale, as well as differentiate and improve residents' waste separation commencement, execution objectives and construct a theoretical model that identifies the factors that influence waste separation behaviors. This study uses random stratified data on the waste separation behaviors of Shanghai residents across 16 districts and counties in 2019. A sample of 2555 questionnaire responses was analyzed, and a structural equation model was used to identify the mechanisms that influence residents’ environmental attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavior control concerning waste separation behavior in the context of government regulations. The study found that environmental attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavior control significantly and positively affect the initiation and execution intentions of residential waste separation, which in turn positively affects waste separation. Environmental attitudes, directly and indirectly, affect waste separation behaviors through initiation and execution intentions. Indirectly, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control have little effect on waste separation. The operational influence of initiation intention on trash separation is moderated by perceived policy effectiveness. Only environmental views, on the other hand, influence inhabitants' trash separation habits. Perceived policy effectiveness promotes the transformation of initiation intention into waste separation behaviors. The findings expanded the application of the planned behavior theory of waste separation, contributed to a better understanding of the behaviors of municipal solid waste separation in Shanghai and other Chinese cities, and provided decision makers with policy suggestions for the governance of waste separation.