Formal or informal recycling sectors? Household solid waste recycling behavior based on multi-agent simulation

Abstract

Urban household solid waste recycling and management are complex adaptive systems with multiple agents, stages, and elements. Previous studies neglected the impact of municipal residents' behavioral decisions on recycling sectors. In this study, the degree of regret-joy and personality characteristics were introduced into a multi-agent-based model to simulate the action decision-making of agents under different strategies. The results demonstrate that, without the government's role, nearly 60% of municipal residents preferred the informal recycling sector (IFRS). Meanwhile, the formal recycling sectors (FRS) find it difficult to attract urban residents because of their low income levels. Regarding a single policy, the subsidy policy is more beneficial than the regulation policy for increasing the income of the FRS from 20 to 250 Yuan. However, neither of the two single policies can weaken the market competitiveness of the IFRS. Moreover, a comprehensive policy combining both subsidies and regulations has enabled more than 60% of urban residents to choose the FRS, thereby increasing its profit and market share to 270 yuan and 500 kg, respectively. These results provide policy suggestions for optimizing the waste recycling management systems.