Do public awareness and behaviors in rural domestic waste classification help reduce covid-19? A case study in China

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.