Impact of community engagement on public acceptance towards waste-to-energy incineration projects: Empirical evidence from China

Abstract

As one of the most popular methods for the treatment of municipal solid waste (MSW), waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration offers effective solutions to deal with the MSW surge and globe energy issues. Nevertheless, the construction of WTE facilities faces considerable and strong opposition from local communities due to the perceived potential risks. The present study aims to understand whether, and how, community engagement improves local residents' public acceptance towards waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration facilities using a questionnaire survey conducted with nearby residents of two selected WTE incineration plants located in Zhejiang province, China. The results of data analysis using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) reveal that firstly, a lower level of public acceptance exists among local residents of over the age of 35, of lower education levels, living within 3 km from the WTE Plant and from WTE incineration Plants which are under construction. Secondly, the public trust of local government and other authorities was positively associated with the public acceptance of the WTE incineration project, both directly and indirectly based on perceived risk. Thirdly, community engagement can effectively enhance public trust in local government and other authorities related to the WTE incineration project. The findings contribute to the literature on MSW treatment policy-making and potentially hazardous facility siting, by exploring the determinants of public acceptance towards WTE incineration projects.

Determining critical risk factors affecting public‐private partnership waste‐to‐energy incineration projects in China

“…However, the disadvantages are mainly borne by local residents, causing strong psychological imbalances, who are against other nearby residents . In addition, public acceptance is also associated with people's perceptions of the benefits and risks, as well as the trust of the government and relevant authorities . For example, local residents believe that the toxic gases discharged by incineration plants will endanger their health, working and living surroundings, and even property, such as reduced housing prices and failed crop trading.…”

“…As typical supporting facilities, waste trucks and waste compression equipment are necessary given unprecedented increases in MSW. As for government credit risk, the respondents attributed high levels of importance to it because of its significant impact on the public acceptance of PPP WTE projects, although it has rarely occurred in realistic WTE incineration plants . In addition, lack of supporting infrastructure and government credit risk were considered to be the causes of revenue risk, which ranked first in the critical risk list, although they were not listed directly as critical risks.…”

“…Achillas et al proposed that public opposition/acceptance risk is the most critical risk faced by this industry. As suggested by Liu et al, Wan et al, and Ren et al, community engagement and the transparency of operations and supervision directly influence the public trust of the government and other authorities, with major impacts on the public acceptance of such projects. In addition, Zhao et al discuss the barriers and challenges of social and technological factors that mainly constrain the development of the WTE incineration industry.…”

“…Ensuring public acceptance is widely acknowledged to be a general requirement to achieve a successful PPP WTE project . As public opposition is usually caused by local residents' perceived risk of the harmful impact to both environment and health, without knowing about the decision‐making process and inadequate compensation, positive measures such as enhancing public participation, promoting positive media propaganda, and improving economic compensation should be further taken by government and SPV …”

“…Third, the risk factors stemming from cultural characteristics, economic development, market situations, and the legal environment vary from one country to another. Thus, many risk factors that are not important in other developed countries often play critical roles in PPP WTE incineration projects in China, such as defective legal and regulatory systems, policy risk, and technological backwardness . Factors from these three aspects can lead to the stagnation or even failure of PPP WTE incineration projects, such as the Beijing Liulitun incineration plant (operational risk) and Jiangsu Wujiang incineration plant (environmental risk).…”