Adoption of new household waste management technologies: The role of financial incentives and pro-environmental behavior

Abstract

New technological solutions can encourage lower household waste production and higher levels of waste separation. This paper focuses on analyzing the role of different behavioral factors, such as empowerment and pro-environmental behavior (PEB), have on citizens' intention to use a novel household waste management and separation system and how these interact with the financial incentives typically applied in this area, pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) and save-as-you-throw (SAYT). The proposed model was tested in Portugal using the structural equation modeling approach. Survey data from 400 respondents found that empowerment plays a vital role in adopting an innovative waste management system. The research discerns pro-environmental behavior (PEB) both as an antecedent and a moderator between system use and empowerment, system use and behavioral intention, and also between system use and financial incentives. We discovered that for people with low perceived PEB, PAYT actually reduces the use of the new waste management system, while SAYT can increase the use of the system. Furthermore, increasing the empowerment of users in the system can work exceptionally well at encouraging consumers that already have a high level of PEB. The paper concludes with a discussion section about the developed framework's application and implication in the waste management sector. This study is valuable for understanding how citizens will adopt a new waste management system and essential for encouraging citizens to engage in recycling behavior regularly.