Identifying multiple stakeholders’ roles and network in urban waste separation management-a case study in Xiamen, China

Abstract

Urban waste management is a complex social-ecological system that requires broader stakeholder participation and widespread environmental awareness. However, further investigation is required to identify interdependencies among different stakeholders and improve their interactions within the system. This research took Xiamen, a Chinese city, as a case study, which was one of 8 Chinese pilot cities that implemented waste separation in 2000 and one of the 46 key cities participating in a new separation policy since 2017. We used stakeholder analysis (SA), social network analysis (SNA) and ecological network analysis (ENA) to identify the characteristics of different stakeholders, their network structure, and the beneficiaries and contributors to the urban waste separation management (UWSM) system. The research conducted a comparison of resident’s participation before and after the new waste separation policy, as well as a comparison among different stakeholders in the new policy. The results showed that all stakeholders had a high level of satisfaction in 2017, but that satisfaction levels decreased with distance from the downtown area. Residents were more willing to participate in waste separation in 2017 than in 2012. Based on their powers and interests, stakeholders were divided into 4 categories that had different network centrality. The ecological relationships between stakeholders were mainly exploitative and competitive which may cause potential inefficiency; powerful stakeholders did not benefit the whole system and the least powerful stakeholder was the largest contributor. The combined application of these methods were complementary to help diagnose information flow problems in the socio-ecological system. Policy implications to further promote mutualism in UWSM are discussed.