A Multilevel Analysis of the Determinants of Recycling Behavior in the European Countries (original) (raw)
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A multilevel perspective to explain recycling behaviour in communities
Journal of Environmental Management, 2015
Previous research on the motivation for environmentally responsible behaviour has focused mainly on individual variables, rather than organizational or collective variables. Therefore, the results of those studies are hardly applicable to environmental management. This study considers individual, collective, and organizational variables together that contribute to the management of environmental waste. The main aim is to identify, through the development of a multilevel model, those predictive variables of recycling behaviour that help organizations to increase the recycling rates in their communities. Individual (age, gender, educational level, self-efficacy with respect to residential recycling, individual recycling behaviour), organizational (satisfaction with the quality of the service provided by a recycling company), and collective (community recycling rates, number of inhabitants, community efficacy beliefs) motivational factors relevant to recycling behaviour were analysed. A sample of 1501 residents from 55 localities was surveyed. The results of multilevel analyses indicated that there was significant variability within and between localities. Interactions between variables at the level of the individual (e.g. satisfaction with service quality) and variables at the level of the collective (e.g. community efficacy) predicted recycling behaviour in localities with low and high community recycling rates and large and small populations. The interactions showed that the relationship between self-efficacy and recycling is stronger in localities with weak community efficacy beliefs than in communities with strong beliefs. The findings show that the relationship between satisfaction with service quality and recycling behaviour is stronger in localities with strong community efficacy beliefs than in communities with weaker beliefs and a smaller population. The results are discussed accordingly in relation to theory and possible contribution to waste management. Those findings may be incorporated in national and international environmental policies in order to promote environmentally responsible behaviour in citizenship.
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Urban Waste Recycling Behavior: Antecedents of Participation in a Selective Collection Program
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Socio-economic and political factors affecting the rate of recycling in Portuguese municipalities
Economic Modelling, 2022
Literature has mostly studied the impact of socioeconomic factors on recycling, but little attention has been given to political factors as determinants of the recycling process in subnational units. This study analyses the impact of both socioeconomic and political factors on the recycling process, based on a dataset of the Portuguese Municipalities in the period 2009-2017, assuming that political orientation and composition of the local government shapes also the recycling performance. By estimating a dynamic panel model, the results validate the U-shaped hypothesis between recycling and production activity, indicating that the primary sector is positively associated with recycling in contrast to other sectors, older population recycles more than young/middle age generation, and recycling increased during the fiscal consolidation period. Regarding the political variables, it is shown that political ideology of the local government (even when it is composed by independent groups of citizens) does not influence recycling significantly, contrary to expectations. Recycling declines in election years, and it is less when the executive in the Town Council and the Municipal Assembly share the same political ideology, validating the veto player theory. Evidence also suggests that the recycling behavior adjusts quickly to its desirable level reflecting a fast-learning process.
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The environmental scenario requires the participation of the society in the integration of individual responsibilities to the political action. The recycling pro-environmental behavior contributes to the proper disposal of solid waste, a major challenge in urban public management. The article aims to analyze the scientific production of the pro-environmental behaviors and recycling in order to weave notes that promote behavioral changes provided for in public policies. The PsycINFO, Scielo and EBSCOhost databases were consulted using the keywords: environmental attitudes, pro-environmental behavior and recycling. We selected 51 articles, among which predominated the investigation into motivation to recycle behavior, influence of social network and social norms. Environmental attitudes and behavior to recycle have shown to be related to social norms, motivation, identity, altruism and awareness; these should be considered when planning public policies and environmental awareness acti...
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A Cross-Country Study of Waste Prevention and Recycling
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PLoS ONE, 2024
This study examines the impact of government ideology on e-waste recycling in 30 European countries from 2008 to 2018. This study seeks to enhance the e-waste recycling literature by introducing a novel determinant, examining the unexplored relationship between government ideology and e-waste recycling rates in European countries, thus addressing a substantial research gap. Utilizing panel quantile regression on an unbalanced dataset, the findings revealed that the increased influence of right-wing parties in government was associated with lower e-waste recycling rates. Conversely, greater influence of left-wing or center-wing parties was correlated with higher recycling rates across all quantiles analyzed. The estimation results remain robust when different indicators of government ideology were employed. Overall, the study underscores the importance of political ideology in shaping ewaste recycling policies and environmental sustainability efforts. It emphasizes that effective policies should align with the political commitment of the governing body.