Moderating Effects on Residents’ Willingness in Waste Sorting to Improve Waste Handling in Dammam City, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

While the total amount of municipal solid waste (MSW) in Dammam city was about 13 million tons in 2013, it is expected to reach about 18.4 million tons in 2025. Although the main problem in Dammam city is an increase in solid waste production without any formal treatment except landfilling, the lack of waste segregation greatly affects the residents’ handling practices of solid waste due to incorrect disposing practices. The objective of this study explored the possibility of Dammam residents’ participation in sorting and recycling to improve MSW handling and to measure the influence of psychological factors which affecting residents’ willingness to participate in waste handling regarding socioeconomic levels and moderating effects. This study also examined various respondents’ perspectives on sorting and recycling sustainable waste and the handling of waste generation. This study covered most Dammam communities, with a gender distribution of 56% males and 44% females and the monthly income ranging from SR700 to SR12,000. The descriptive analysis showed that of the 450 participants, 170 (37.8%) were in the middle-income levels, 199 (44.2%) were in the high-income levels and 81 (18%) were in the low-income levels. The moderating effect of income was observed between attitude and willingness to sort and recycle waste in the low-income levels and high-income levels groups. Additionally, an association was found between market incentives and willingness to sort and recycle waste in the low-income levels and high-income levels groups. The gender status of the participants had a moderating effect on the relationship between market incentives and willingness to sort and recycle waste in males and females. Additionally, the moderating effect of social influence on households’ willingness to sort and recycle waste was moderated by gender in males and females.

Self-Reported Household Waste Recycling and Segregation Practices among Families in Eastern Region of Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…Waste segregation and recycling at the source is a valuable tool in reducing the volume of waste and the amount of waste disposed of at landfill sites. It is also evident that waste segregation at the source is advantageous, e.g., in terms of the ease in handling, processing, enhancing resource recovery, fostering reuse and recycling, and reducing operational costs [25][26][27]. On the other hand, improper household waste solid management is associated with various health risks [21][22][23][24]27,28].…”

“…The moderating effect of income and market incentives was likewise observed between attitude and willingness to sort and recycle waste in the low-income-level and high-incomelevel groups. In addition, the gender status of the participants had a moderating effect on the relationship between market incentives and willingness to sort and recycle waste in both males and females [26].…”

The Role of Police Administration in Infusing Collective Safe Disposal Behavior: An Empirical Study on The Djiboutian Citizens

“…In fact, there are several obstacles to sustainability, including public understanding and population expansion. Community members would be more motivated and open to participating if they were made aware of the advantages of source reduction and trash separation (Phan et al, 2021;Altikolatsi et al, 2021;Labib et al,2021).…”

Understanding Public Environmental Awareness and Attitudes toward Circular Economy Transition in Saudi Arabia

“…Implementing the 3R strategy (reduce, recycle and reuse) to influence public behavior has recorded some success in a residential estate in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia that led to 46.7% garbage reduction from 5625 tons to 3000 tons annually [62]. Another study conducted in Dammam city, Saudi Arabia, revealed that 57.1% and 55.1% of 450 study respondents reported having a positive attitude regarding trash sorting and recycling, respectively [63]. A study in the United Kingdom also showed a positive public response towards trash segregation and its conversion into energy through incineration [64].…”