IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v16y2019i16p2997-d259244.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Public Perception towards Waste-to-Energy as a Waste Management Strategy: A Case from Shandong, China

Author

Listed:
  • Xueliang Yuan

    (School of Energy and Power Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250061, China
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Xiaohan Fan

    (School of Energy and Power Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250061, China)

  • Jiaxin Liang

    (School of Energy and Power Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250061, China
    New Oriental Education and Training School, Xiamen 361021, China)

  • Mengyue Liu

    (School of Energy and Power Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250061, China)

  • Yuqiang Teng

    (School of Energy and Power Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250061, China)

  • Qiao Ma

    (School of Energy and Power Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250061, China
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Qingsong Wang

    (School of Energy and Power Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250061, China)

  • Ruimin Mu

    (School of Municipal and Environmental Engineering, Shandong Jianzhu University, Jinan 250100, China)

  • Jian Zuo

    (School of Architecture & Built Environment, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5005, Australia)

Abstract

Municipal solid waste (MSW) is posing great challenge for most countries in the world, which can cause severe negative impacts to the environment and human health. Waste-to-energy has great potential in China because of its technological maturity and policy support at the national level. However, there are significant conflicts between the huge market demand and strong public opposition. It is imperative to examine the public perception of waste-to-energy, especially for developing countries where a large number of projects are under construction or have been approved. The public perception of waste-to-energy was carried out by a questionnaire survey in this research. A total of 650 questionnaires were distributed and 629 questionnaires were returned, with a response rate of 96.8%. The results show that the public showed general concern in regard to environmental issues. Respondents had an overall positive attitude towards waste-to-energy, but it varied according to the demographic details of residents, such as age, education, and income. Recognition level of the benefits was higher than the concern of associated risks. Multiple linear regression shows that awareness of environmental issues had no impact on public attitude towards waste-to-energy, while public awareness and perceived benefits had notable positive impacts. Perceived risks had a positive correlation with public attitude. In order to promote the development of MSW incinerators, the government should make more publicity efforts. Rural residents, people over 50 years old, and people with low education and low income are the major groups which should be focused on to enhance the public perception. The findings provide a theoretical and practical reference for enhancing the social acceptance of waste-to-energy development.

Suggested Citation

  • Xueliang Yuan & Xiaohan Fan & Jiaxin Liang & Mengyue Liu & Yuqiang Teng & Qiao Ma & Qingsong Wang & Ruimin Mu & Jian Zuo, 2019. "Public Perception towards Waste-to-Energy as a Waste Management Strategy: A Case from Shandong, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-15, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:16:p:2997-:d:259244
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/16/2997/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/16/2997/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jing Liang & Ming Liu, 2018. "Network Design for Municipal Solid Waste Collection: A Case Study of the Nanjing Jiangbei New Area," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-15, December.
    2. Zhujie Chu & Wenna Wang & Bairong Wang & Jun Zhuang, 2016. "Research on Factors Influencing Municipal Household Solid Waste Separate Collection: Bayesian Belief Networks," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-14, February.
    3. Heras-Saizarbitoria, Iñaki & Zamanillo, Ibon & Laskurain, Iker, 2013. "Social acceptance of ocean wave energy: A case study of an OWC shoreline plant," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 515-524.
    4. Lim, Xin-Le & Lam, Wei-Haur, 2014. "Public Acceptance of Marine Renewable Energy in Malaysia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 16-26.
    5. Wustenhagen, Rolf & Wolsink, Maarten & Burer, Mary Jean, 2007. "Social acceptance of renewable energy innovation: An introduction to the concept," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 2683-2691, May.
    6. Xu, Yelin & Chan, Albert P.C. & Xia, Bo & Qian, Queena K. & Liu, Yong & Peng, Yi, 2015. "Critical risk factors affecting the implementation of PPP waste-to-energy projects in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 403-411.
    7. Udomsri, Seksan & Martin, Andrew R. & Martin, Viktoria, 2011. "Thermally driven cooling coupled with municipal solid waste-fired power plant: Application of combined heat, cooling and power in tropical urban areas," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(5), pages 1532-1542, May.
    8. S. Bhuvaneshwari & Hiroshan Hettiarachchi & Jay N. Meegoda, 2019. "Crop Residue Burning in India: Policy Challenges and Potential Solutions," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-19, March.
    9. Yuan, Xueliang & Zuo, Jian & Ma, Chunyuan, 2011. "Social acceptance of solar energy technologies in China--End users' perspective," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 1031-1036, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mancini, G. & Lombardi, L. & Luciano, A. & Bolzonella, D. & Viotti, P. & Fino, D., 2024. "A reduction in global impacts through a waste-wastewater-energy nexus: A life cycle assessment," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 289(C).
    2. Caferra, Rocco & D'Adamo, Idiano & Morone, Piergiuseppe, 2023. "Wasting energy or energizing waste? The public acceptance of waste-to-energy technology," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 263(PE).

    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. Zhao, Dong-Xue & He, Bao-Jie & Johnson, Christine & Mou, Ben, 2015. "Social problems of green buildings: From the humanistic needs to social acceptance," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 1594-1609.
    2. Bhowmik, Chiranjib & Bhowmik, Sumit & Ray, Amitava, 2018. "Social acceptance of green energy determinants using principal component analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 1030-1046.
    3. Ruano-Chamorro, Cristina & Castilla, Juan Carlos & Gelcich, Stefan, 2018. "Human dimensions of marine hydrokinetic energies: Current knowledge and research gaps," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 82(P3), pages 1979-1989.
    4. Jenkins, Lekelia Danielle & Dreyer, Stacia Jeanne & Polis, Hilary Jacqueline & Beaver, Ezra & Kowalski, Adam A. & Linder, Hannah L. & McMillin, Thomas Neal & McTiernan, Kaylie Laura & Rogier, Thea The, 2018. "Human dimensions of tidal energy: A review of theories and frameworks," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 323-337.
    5. Du, Hua & Han, Qi & de Vries, Bauke & Sun, Jun, 2024. "Community solar PV adoption in residential apartment buildings: A case study on influencing factors and incentive measures in Wuhan," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 354(PA).
    6. Baharoon, Dhyia Aidroos & Rahman, Hasimah Abdul & Fadhl, Saeed Obaid, 2016. "Publics׳ knowledge, attitudes and behavioral toward the use of solar energy in Yemen power sector," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 498-515.
    7. Karytsas, Spyridon & Theodoropoulou, Helen, 2014. "Socioeconomic and demographic factors that influence publics' awareness on the different forms of renewable energy sources," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 480-485.
    8. Kosorić, Vesna & Huang, Huajing & Tablada, Abel & Lau, Siu-Kit & Tan, Hugh T.W., 2019. "Survey on the social acceptance of the productive façade concept integrating photovoltaic and farming systems in high-rise public housing blocks in Singapore," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 197-214.
    9. Mahesti Okitasari & Ranjeeta Mishra & Masachika Suzuki, 2022. "Socio-Economic Drivers of Community Acceptance of Sustainable Social Housing: Evidence from Mumbai," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-17, July.
    10. Liu, Wenling & Wang, Can & Mol, Arthur P.J., 2013. "Rural public acceptance of renewable energy deployment: The case of Shandong in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 1187-1196.
    11. Muhammad Aslam Mohd Safari & Nurulkamal Masseran & Alias Jedi & Sohif Mat & Kamaruzzaman Sopian & Azman Bin Abdul Rahim & Azami Zaharim, 2020. "Rural Public Acceptance of Wind and Solar Energy: A Case Study from Mersing, Malaysia," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-24, July.
    12. Ponce Oliva, R.D. & Estay, M. & Barrientos, M. & Estevez, R.A. & Gelcich, S. & Vásquez-Lavín, F., 2024. "Emerging energy sources' social acceptability: Evidence from marine-based energy projects," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    13. Ana María González & Harrison Sandoval & Pilar Acosta & Felipe Henao, 2016. "On the Acceptance and Sustainability of Renewable Energy Projects—A Systems Thinking Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(11), pages 1-21, November.
    14. Marco Segreto & Lucas Principe & Alexandra Desormeaux & Marco Torre & Laura Tomassetti & Patrizio Tratzi & Valerio Paolini & Francesco Petracchini, 2020. "Trends in Social Acceptance of Renewable Energy Across Europe—A Literature Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-19, December.
    15. Rahman, Arief & Richards, Russell & Dargusch, Paul & Wadley, David, 2023. "Pathways to reduce Indonesia’s dependence on oil and achieve longer-term decarbonization," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 202(C), pages 1305-1323.
    16. van der Schoor, Tineke & Scholtens, Bert, 2015. "Power to the people: Local community initiatives and the transition to sustainable energy," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 666-675.
    17. Aklin, Michaël & Cheng, Chao-Yo & Urpelainen, Johannes, 2018. "Social acceptance of new energy technology in developing countries: A framing experiment in rural India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 466-477.
    18. Zhang, Nan & Hwang, Bon-Gang & Lu, Yujie & Ngo, Jasmine, 2022. "A Behavior theory integrated ANN analytical approach for understanding households adoption decisions of residential photovoltaic (RPV) system," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    19. Rodríguez-Segura, Francisco Javier & Osorio-Aravena, Juan Carlos & Frolova, Marina & Terrados-Cepeda, Julio & Muñoz-Cerón, Emilio, 2023. "Social acceptance of renewable energy development in southern Spain: Exploring tendencies, locations, criteria and situations," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    20. Sardianou, E. & Genoudi, P., 2013. "Which factors affect the willingness of consumers to adopt renewable energies?," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 1-4.

    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:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:16:p:2997-:d:259244. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.