IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v334y2025ics0360544225032347.html

Exploring the determinants of power battery recycling intention of electric vehicle owners in China: Environmental knowledge as a moderator

Author

Listed:
  • Chang, Ruiqi
  • Vafaei-Zadeh, Ali
  • Hanifah, Haniruzila
  • Nikbin, Davoud
  • Yee Choo, Seen

Abstract

As China leads global electric vehicle (EV) adoption, the surge in retired power batteries raises environmental and resource recovery concerns. This study integrates the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and Valence Theory (VT) to examine key factors influencing EV owners’ formal recycling intention for power batteries (PBTs). A structural model is tested using PLS-SEM on survey data from 624 EV owners with over four years of ownership. Results confirm that recycling attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control significantly shape recycling intention. Perceived benefit enhances recycling attitude but does not directly influence intention, while perceived risk negatively affects both. Environmental knowledge moderates and strengthens the effects of TPB components on recycling intention, highlighting its critical role. Additionally, environmental concern indirectly influences intention through recycling attitude. Among contextual factors, economic incentives significantly boost recycling intention, while policy incentives do not. These findings reveal the complex interplay of motivational, evaluative, and contextual drivers in shaping recycling behavior. Theoretically, this study contributes by integrating TPB and VT, extending the model with environmental knowledge as a moderator and attitude as a mediator. Practically, the results offer actionable strategies for policymakers and industry stakeholders—emphasizing the need to address risk perceptions, enhance recycling convenience, provide financial incentives, and strengthen public knowledge. By targeting long-term EV users, the study offers timely insights into promoting sustainable battery recycling practices in China and beyond.

Suggested Citation

  • Chang, Ruiqi & Vafaei-Zadeh, Ali & Hanifah, Haniruzila & Nikbin, Davoud & Yee Choo, Seen, 2025. "Exploring the determinants of power battery recycling intention of electric vehicle owners in China: Environmental knowledge as a moderator," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 334(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:334:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225032347
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2025.137592
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544225032347
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2025.137592?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Adu-Gyamfi, Gibbson & Song, Huaming & Obuobi, Bright & Nketiah, Emmanuel & Wang, Hong & Cudjoe, Dan, 2022. "Who will adopt? Investigating the adoption intention for battery swap technology for electric vehicles," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    2. Nika Hein, 2022. "Factors Influencing the Purchase Intention for Recycled Products: Integrating Perceived Risk into Value-Belief-Norm Theory," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-15, March.
    3. Sumana Jagadeshi Raghu & Lewlyn L. R. Rodrigues, 2022. "Solid waste management behavior among the student community: integrating environmental knowledge and situational factors into the theories of planned behavior and value belief norm," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 65(10), pages 1842-1874, June.
    4. Hamid Rastegari Kopaei & Mehdi Nooripoor & Ayatollah Karami & Ruxandra Malina Petrescu-Mag & Dacinia Crina Petrescu, 2021. "Drivers of Residents’ Home Composting Intention: Integrating the Theory of Planned Behavior, the Norm Activation Model, and the Moderating Role of Composting Knowledge," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-21, June.
    5. Inga-Lill Söderberg & Misse Wester & Agnieszka Zalejska Jonsson, 2022. "Exploring Factors Promoting Recycling Behavior in Student Housing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-16, April.
    6. Park, Hyun Jung & Lin, Li Min, 2020. "Exploring attitude–behavior gap in sustainable consumption: comparison of recycled and upcycled fashion products," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 623-628.
    7. Ying Ma & Mansoor Ahmed Koondhar & Shengke Liu & Huiling Wang & Rong Kong, 2020. "Perceived Value Influencing the Household Waste Sorting Behaviors in Rural China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-18, August.
    8. Enci Wang & Jianyun Nie & Yuhan Wang, 2023. "Government Subsidy Strategies for the New Energy Vehicle Power Battery Recycling Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-18, January.
    9. Amita Goyal Chin & Mark A. Harris & Robert Brookshire, 2022. "An Empirical Investigation of Intent to Adopt Mobile Payment Systems Using a Trust-based Extended Valence Framework," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 329-347, February.
    10. Miaomei Guo & Weilun Huang, 2023. "Consumer Willingness to Recycle The Wasted Batteries of Electric Vehicles in the Era of Circular Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-20, February.
    11. Tang, Yanyan & Zhang, Qi & Liu, Boyu & Li, Yan & Ni, Ruiyan & Wang, Yi, 2023. "What influences residents’ intention to participate in the electric vehicle battery recycling? Evidence from China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 276(C).
    12. Ajzen, Icek, 1991. "The theory of planned behavior," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 179-211, December.
    13. Natasha Juliana & Suddin Lada & Brahim Chekima & Azaze-Azizi Abdul Adis, 2022. "Exploring Determinants Shaping Recycling Behavior Using an Extended Theory of Planned Behavior Model: An Empirical Study of Households in Sabah, Malaysia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-13, April.
    14. Melissa Monika Wagner & Tincuta Heinzel, 2020. "Human Perceptions of Recycled Textiles and Circular Fashion: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-28, December.
    15. Zhang, Qi & Tang, Yanyan & Bunn, Derek & Li, Hailong & Li, Yaoming, 2021. "Comparative evaluation and policy analysis for recycling retired EV batteries with different collection modes," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 303(C).
    16. Wei-Ta Fang & Mei-Hsuan Huang & Bai-You Cheng & Rong-Jeo Chiu & Yi-Te Chiang & Chun-Wei Hsu & Eric Ng, 2021. "Applying a Comprehensive Action Determination Model to Examine the Recycling Behavior of Taipei City Residents," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-18, January.
    17. Morgana Weber Macena & Rita Carvalho & Luísa Paula Cruz-Lopes & Raquel P. F. Guiné, 2021. "Plastic Food Packaging: Perceptions and Attitudes of Portuguese Consumers about Environmental Impact and Recycling," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-20, September.
    18. Jiang, Li & Yan, Jingyi & Xie, Yuguang & Dong, Junfeng, 2025. "Customers’ reuse intention to autonomous delivery vehicles in terminal delivery service: A valence theory perspective," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    19. Wang, Xiao-Wu & Cao, Yu-Mei & Zhang, Ning, 2021. "The influences of incentive policy perceptions and consumer social attributes on battery electric vehicle purchase intentions," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    20. Somi Yu & Jieun Lee, 2019. "The Effects of Consumers’ Perceived Values on Intention to Purchase Upcycled Products," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-20, February.
    21. Yong-Sheng Chang & Zhang Yue & Madeeha Qureshi & Muhammad Imran Rasheed & Song Wu & Michael Yao-Ping Peng, 2022. "Residents' waste mobile recycling planned behavior model: the role of environmental concern and risk perception," International Journal of Emerging Markets, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 18(12), pages 6388-6406, July.
    22. Peter, J Paul & Tarpey, Lawrence X, Sr, 1975. "A Comparative Analysis of Three Consumer Decision Strategies," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 2(1), pages 29-37, June.
    23. Rahmani, Amir & Mashayekh, Javad & Aboojafari, Roohallah & Bonyadi Naeini, Ali, 2023. "Determinants of households' intention for investment in renewable energy projects," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 823-837.
    24. Adu-Gyamfi, Gibbson & Song, Huaming & Nketiah, Emmanuel & Obuobi, Bright & Adjei, Mavis & Cudjoe, Dan, 2022. "Determinants of adoption intention of battery swap technology for electric vehicles," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 251(C).
    25. Zhu, Mengping & Liu, Zhixue & Li, Jianbin & Zhu, Stuart X., 2020. "Electric vehicle battery capacity allocation and recycling with downstream competition," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 283(1), pages 365-379.
    26. Betul Hande Gursoy Haksevenler & Aydin Akpinar & Hiroshan Hettiarachchi, 2023. "The Social Dimensions of an Incentive-Based Urban Recycling Program: A Case-Study from Istanbul, Turkey," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-17, November.
    27. Zhuling Liu & Janet Z. Yang & Susan S. Clark & Michael A. Shelly, 2022. "Recycling as a planned behavior: the moderating role of perceived behavioral control," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(9), pages 11011-11026, September.
    28. Ghasemaghaei, Maryam, 2020. "The role of positive and negative valence factors on the impact of bigness of data on big data analytics usage," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 395-404.
    29. Jingxian Liu & Yingyu Wu & Lili Liu, 2023. "Impact of Environmental Uncertainties and Strategic Flexibility in Innovation Activities on NEV Battery Recycling Firms in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-16, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Luo, Jiaqi & Yang, Ying & Jiang, Yan, 2025. "Assessing the antecedents, processes, and consequences of sustainable electric vehicle battery recycling: A systematic literature review," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    2. Kajul Bharti & Richa Agarwal, 2026. "Consumers adoption of healthy lifestyle: Understanding the influence of upcycling drivers on LOHAS consumer behavior," Journal of Financial Services Marketing, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 31(1), pages 1-19, March.
    3. Nketiah, Emmanuel & Song, Huaming & Cai, Xiang & Adjei, Mavis & Adu-Gyamfi, Gibbson & Obuobi, Bright, 2022. "Citizens’ intention to invest in municipal solid waste to energy projects in Ghana: The impact of direct and indirect effects," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(PC).
    4. Thomas Dobbelstein & Carina Lochner, 2023. "Factors influencing purchase intention for recycled products: A comparative analysis of Germany and South Africa," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(4), pages 2256-2277, August.
    5. Nketiah, Emmanuel & Song, Huaming & Obuobi, Bright & Adu-Gyamfi, Gibbson & Adjei, Mavis & Cudjoe, Dan, 2022. "Citizens' willingness to pay for local anaerobic digestion energy: The influence of altruistic value and knowledge," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    6. Chao Zuo & Xuqiang Yan & Ziyi Chen & Wenbo Wei & Meina Gao & Yuting Ling & Fenping Zhu & Bei Liu & Hongwei Zhou & Dong Xu & Mengjun Zhang, 2025. "Factors influencing residents’ inclination towards engaging in the recycling of electric vehicle batteries," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-11, December.
    7. Tatiana David-Negre & Janet Hernández-Méndez & Desiderio Gutiérrez-Taño, 2026. "From doubt to trust: decoding switching intentions toward facial recognition in tourism," Information Technology & Tourism, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 1-25, June.
    8. Adu-Gyamfi, Gibbson & Song, Huaming & Asamoah, Ama Nyarko & Li, Liang & Nketiah, Emmanuel & Obuobi, Bright & Adjei, Mavis & Cudjoe, Dan, 2022. "Towards sustainable vehicular transport: Empirical assessment of battery swap technology adoption in China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    9. Tang, Yanyan & Zhang, Qi & Liu, Boyu & Li, Yan & Ni, Ruiyan & Wang, Yi, 2023. "What influences residents’ intention to participate in the electric vehicle battery recycling? Evidence from China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 276(C).
    10. Barbara Bigliardi & Domenico Campisi & Giovanna Ferraro & Serena Filippelli & Francesco Galati & Alberto Petroni, 2020. "The Intention to Purchase Recycled Products: Towards an Integrative Theoretical Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-20, November.
    11. Wang, Yitong & Fan, Ruguo & Chen, Rongkai & Xie, Xiao & Ke, Can, 2025. "Exploring the coevolution dynamics of residents and recyclers in electric vehicle battery recycling decisions on the two-layer heterogeneous complex networks," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 382(C).
    12. Cabeza-Ramírez, L. Javier & Rosales-Tristancho, Abel & Sánchez-Cañizares, Sandra M. & Palacios-Florencio, Beatriz, 2025. "Rational and normative determinants in electric vehicle adoption: Willingness to pay and moderating variables," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    13. Nketiah, Emmanuel & Song, Huaming & Adu-Gyamfi, Gibbson & Obuobi, Bright & Adjei, Mavis & Cudjoe, Dan, 2022. "Does government involvement and awareness of benefit affect Ghanaian's willingness to pay for renewable green electricity?," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 683-694.
    14. Adu-Gyamfi, Gibbson & Song, Huaming & Nketiah, Emmanuel & Obuobi, Bright & Wu, Qin & Cudjoe, Dan, 2024. "Refueling convenience and range satisfaction in electric mobility: Investigating consumer willingness to use battery swap services for electric vehicles," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    15. Melissa Monika Wagner & Tincuta Heinzel, 2020. "Human Perceptions of Recycled Textiles and Circular Fashion: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-28, December.
    16. Tang, Decai & Obuobi, Bright & Nketiah, Emmanuel & Adu-Gyamfi, Gibbson, 2025. "Breaking the energy crisis: Does the role of government support impact Ghanaians' intention to adopt sustainable energy from food waste?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 320(C).
    17. Jiang, Li & Yan, Jingyi & Xie, Yuguang & Dong, Junfeng, 2025. "Customers’ reuse intention to autonomous delivery vehicles in terminal delivery service: A valence theory perspective," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    18. Adu-Gyamfi, Gibbson & Song, Huaming & Nketiah, Emmanuel & Obuobi, Bright & Djanie, Ammishaddai Kotey, 2024. "Remedying driving range and refueling challenges in electric mobility: Consumer adoption of battery-swappable electric vehicles," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    19. Osakwe, Christian Nedu & Ogunmokun, Oluwatobi A. & Elgammal, Islam & Kwarteng, Michael Adu, 2025. "Individuals' attitudes and their adoption intentions of central bank digital currency: Combining theories and analytics for deeper insights," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 210(C).
    20. Zahra Fozouni Ardekani & Seyed Mohammad Javad Sobhani & Marcelo Werneck Barbosa & Ehsan Amiri-Ardekani & Samaneh Dehghani & Najmeh Sasani & Hans De Steur, 2024. "Determinants of household food waste behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran: an integrated model," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(10), pages 26205-26235, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:334:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225032347. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.