ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Do Public Awareness and Behaviors in Rural
Domestic Waste Classification Help Reduce
COVID-19? a Case Study in China
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1
Research Center for Ecological Civilization, College of Economics and Management,
Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, 310018, China
2
School of Finance, Zhejiang Gongshang University, Hangzhou, 310018, China
Submission date: 2020-10-07
Final revision date: 2020-11-29
Acceptance date: 2020-11-29
Online publication date: 2021-04-28
Publication date: 2021-07-07
Corresponding author
Lu Ye
Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, China
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2021;30(4):3897-3906
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ABSTRACT
Rural domestic waste classification (RDWC) is one of the main strategies for waste management,
which plays a significant role in the circular economy and sustainable management. As one of the first
pilot cities of waste classification in China, Hangzhou took the lead in promoting the classification and
recycling of rural domestic waste. Based on the probability sampling procedure, this study focuses on
the influencing factors of residents’ awareness and behaviors toward RDWC in Hangzhou rural areas.
The results of the questionnaire survey show that the perception of the importance of RDWC is weak
in rural areas of China. Moreover, regression analyses show that the public’s RDWC awareness is
positively influenced by the cleanliness of waste rooms, age, and educational level. And their RDWC
behaviors are negatively influenced by human supervision but positively influenced by the attitude to
waste classification, satisfaction with the situation of RDWC and environment. Besides, exploring the
relationship between the number of COVID-19 cases and the waste classification performance shows
cities with better waste classification performance have fewer confirmed cases. These results imply that
the proper waste classification methods and supporting infrastructure facilities could be fitted to other
rural areas.