Impact of Environmental Regulation on the Level of Domestic Waste Classification Among Rural Residents: A Case Study from Rural China

Source classification of rural residents is related to the effectiveness of domestic waste classification and treatment. The development of the habit of domestic waste classification by rural residents requires the incentive of environmental regulations. Using data from the 2022 CLES (China Land Economic Survey) database survey of 1189 farm households, we analyzed the impact and path of environmental regulation on the level of domestic waste classification among rural residents using the Oprobit model. This study found that approximately half of the samples used the classification method to dispose of domestic waste. The level of waste classification was low, and only 5.72% of the samples used the four-classification method to dispose of domestic waste. There is still a long way to go in classifying the domestic waste of rural residents. Guided environmental regulation, constrained environmental regulation, and incentive environmental regulation can directly improve the level of domestic waste classification of rural residents. However, it can also indirectly promote the level of domestic waste classification by promoting the understanding of domestic waste classification, improving the living environment, and improving environmental cognition through a sense of identity related to family responsibility. Accordingly, countermeasures are proposed to guide rural residents in classifying domestic waste by continuously strengthening the publicity of domestic waste classification, improving the system of policies and regulations, and raising the environmental awareness of rural residents.