Understanding the Effect of Internal and External Factors on Households’ Willingness to Sort Waste in Dammam City, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The acceleration of growth in the population in Saudi Arabia and the increase in municipal solid waste generation have caused a problem in Dammam city: an increase in solid waste production. Therefore, solid waste sorting is an important practice of municipal solid waste management. The main objectives in this research are understanding the effect of internal and external factors on household willingness in sorting waste in Dammam city and studying the attempts to construct a theoretical research model by adding market incentives, government facilitators, and awareness into the popular planned behaviour theory to explain residents’ waste sorting intentions. The data collection and analysis are based on the questionnaire study, which is based on the questionnaire survey data from 450 households in Dammam. This study revealed that social influence significantly predicts households’ willingness to sort and recycle, that is, to promote recycling. Additionally, the variable social influence has a significant but low influence on households’ willingness to sort and recycle. The result of the structural equation model shows that perceived behavioural control significantly predicts households’ willingness to sort and recycle waste. This finding is consistent with the theoretical expectation. Therefore, this research shows that attitude, social influence, perceived behavioural control, market incentives, government facilitators and awareness positively and significantly affect residents’ waste sorting intentions. Additionally, this research corroborates the discrepancy between internal and external variables.

Predicting the Intention to Sort Waste at Home in Rural Communities in Lebanon: An Application of the Theory of Planned Behaviour

“…The critical role of PBC in influencing behavioural intention was reported in other TPB studies targeting households in Turkey [ 53 ], Greece [ 54 ], Saudi Arabia [ 60 ], and India [ 57 ]. Social norm was a significant predictor of intention in TPB-based studies conducted in Saudi Arabia [ 52 , 59 , 60 ] and Qatar [ 62 ]. A non-significant relationship between attitude toward recycling and intention was reported in other TPB-based studies [ 53 , 77 ].…”

“…The TPB has consistently shown its utility and efficacy in explaining recycling in European countries [ 42 , 43 , 44 ] and household solid waste segregation in various settings and contexts [ 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 ], including LMICs in the Eastern Mediterranean (Turkey and Greece [ 53 , 54 , 55 ]), Africa (South Africa [ 52 ] and Ghana [ 56 ]), and Asia (India [ 57 ], Iran [ 58 ], Saudi Arabia [ 59 , 60 ], and China [ 51 ]). According to Elhoushy and Lanzini’s systematic review [ 61 ], the core TPB constructs (i.e., attitude, perceived norm, and perceived behavioural control) were significantly related to behavioural intention in different contexts.…”

“…Similar findings were reported in a TPB-inspired study conducted in Lebanon to assess the determinants of solid waste management practices in three different urban areas [ 25 ], demonstrating the critical role of attitudes toward the 3Rs and satisfaction with current practices. In a study done in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, household recycling was significantly predicted by social norms, and PBC was the strongest predictor of behavioural intention [ 59 ]. Similar findings were reported in a study based on a web-based survey diffused among Saudi Arabian citizens [ 60 ], with PBC being the strongest predictor of intention, followed by attitude and perceived norms.…”

The Perception and Attitude of Farmers toward Domestic Waste Classifications: A Case Study on Wusheng County, Sichuan Province, China

“…TPB posits that the generation of environmental behavior comes from an individual’s own expectations and welfare, proposing that behavioral attitudes (BAs), subjective norms (SNs), and perceived behavioral control jointly determine an individual’s environmental behavior [ 7 ]. Currently, The TPB has consistently demonstrated its utility and efficacy in explaining recycling in European countries and domestic waste classification in various settings and contexts, including LMICs in the Eastern Mediterranean (Turkey and Greece), Africa (South Africa and Ghana), and Asia (India, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and China) [ 9 , 10 , 11 ]. Therefore, introducing the TPB into FDW classification management behavior research, from the aspects of rural residents itself, to explore the internal factors influencing the desire and behavior of its classification can improve the enthusiasm for FDW classification management.…”

Rational Choice or Altruism Factor: Determinants of Residents’ Behavior toward Household Waste Separation in Xi’an, China

“…In recent decades, researchers have found that the best prediction of behavior is obtained by asking people if they intend to behave in a certain way (e.g., the Theory of Planned Behavior) [7][8][9]. Obviously, these studies follow a basic presumption: household waste separation is a self-interested behavior guided by rational choice.…”