Evolutionary process of household waste separation behavior based on social networks

Abstract

Household waste, as an inevitable result of daily activities, has attracted increasing attention, especially as it affects sustainable development. It is important to study the household waste separation behavior of individuals. Based on the theory of planned behavior, an extended theoretical model is constructed that considers perception of the outcomes in household waste separation to better illustrate individual behavior in waste separation. A comprehensive analysis is performed to explore the dynamic spread of pro-environmental and household waste separation information by conducting empirical research from 259 online questionnaires and a simulation of the evolution of household waste separation behavior in social networks. The dynamic spread of pro-environmental and household waste separation information influences the intention to sort waste, which determines waste sorting behavior. An analysis of the questionnaire data shows that considering others’ advice and perception of the behavioral outcomes has a significant influence on the intention to separate waste. Moreover, the impact of media publicity on the individual intention to sort waste is negative, indicating a need to improve the quality of propaganda. The simulation findings also advocate for enhancing the connection of people in the network, making policies that set appropriate penalties and increasing personal repayment by emphasizing three parameters: the information interaction threshold value, penalty-promoting parameter, and personal motivation parameter. Our study enhances the understanding of the evolutionary process of household solid waste separation behavior and provides several suggestions for improving existing policies, and this study can serve as a valuable reference for waste management in social networks.