Integrating Citizens’ Importance-Performance Aspects into Sustainable Plastic Waste Management in Danang, Vietnam

Abstract

Plastic pollution is a matter of deep concern that requires an urgent and international response, involving stakeholders at all levels. The rapid increase of single-use plastic and medical waste, especially in the context of COVID-19, has caused a drastic progression in the plastic pollution crisis on a global scale. To identify an efficient plastic waste management (PWM) system to tackle this major environmental problem, this study adopted importance-performance analysis and used logistic regression to identify key factors affecting citizens’ behavior to participate in PWM strategies in Vietnam. The results indicate that while the importance of all PWM solutions was considered to be high, their performance was rated at a low level, implying a sizable gap between perceived importance and performance of eleven solutions for PWM. The findings also show that solutions such as “offering zero-waste lifestyle seminars to citizens”, “having community engagement”, “using eco-friendly products”, and “imposing a ban on single-use plastics” are useful for the development of an effective environmental policy. Furthermore, it was found that the following characteristics have a significant influence on citizens’ participation in PWM solutions: (1) gender, (2) education level, (3) residential area, (4) employment status, and (5) citizens’ awareness and behavior towards plastic reduction. This study is expected to provide theoretical and empirical evidence for policymakers and authorities who are in charge of promulgating the necessary mechanisms and policies to promote the socialization of PWM.

Conducting an adaptive evaluation framework of importance and performance for community-based earthquake disaster management

“…It is hoped to contribute to building community disaster resilience by emphasizing multiple dimensions and approaches to support factors related to the resilience building process of community organization. This study analyzed the matrix of the IP levels of CEDM indicators and the overall differences between urban and suburban residents' perceptions of importance and levels of satisfaction with the eight indicators under an IPA evaluation framework built on solid theoretical constructs (Addas et al 2021;Ali et al 2021;Phan et al 2022;Zhang and Chan 2016). By doing so, it was able to capture local residents' perspectives of what government measures they deem satisfactory, and to identify what needs improvement.…”

“…IPA techniques are widely utilized to examine the quality of services, and allow researchers to assess the discrepancies between the perceived importance and performance of any service, which is especially helpful for the implementation of a government or company's programming (Addas et al 2021;Boley et al 2017;Zhang and Chan 2016). One of the main advantages of the IPA method is to reveal satisfaction levels (Addas et al 2021;Nguyen et al 2021;Phan et al 2022). Ratings for the importance and performance of management functions are crucial in determining management strategies.…”

Establishing an importance-performance evaluating framework under integrating adaptive capacity for community-based plastic waste management

“…Currently, Danang lacks a formal system for collecting plastic for recycling, as existing machines and equipment fail to separate dry recyclables from other waste fractions. As a result, potentially recyclable materials become contaminated, making recycling extraction more difficult (Sara and James, 2020;Phan et al, 2022). The city largely operates in a linear manner, disposing of waste without recovering inherent material value.…”

“…The ineffective management and disposal of PW have resulted in severe environmental pollution, especially in developing countries with inadequate waste management infrastructure (Rai et al, 2019b;Phan et al, 2022). While various technological solutions have been proposed to mitigate this problem, there is increasing recognition that building the adaptive capacity of local people and communities is essential for long-term success (Armitage, 2005;Jones, 2020).…”

“…This method offers insights into the aspects of a service that significantly influence customer satisfaction and loyalty, as well as the service factors that need improvement to rectify an unsatisfactory situation (Boley et al, 2017). In general waste management, IPA is a tool that can be used to prioritize actions that need to be taken by identifying the importance of different factors and how actions perform against those factors (Bui et al, 2020;Phan et al, 2022). The application of IPA in waste management can assist in identifying the most pressing areas that need to be addressed, and provides a basis for communityled solutions.…”