Agricultural waste refers to the by-products or residue of agricultural activities, which mainly consists of roots, stems, and leaves, which are left over after processing crops or harvesting (Li et al., 2021). Straw is one of the main agricultural residues produced from cereals during the harvesting process. Cereal waste has led to significant agricultural waste issues, which presents great challenges in terms of sustainable development in China. This study focuses on the sustainable use of straw waste in China. Some researchers pointed out that the 3R approach is recognized as a successful model used to analyze the circular economy and sustainable social development. The sustainable barriers framework is regarded as a reasonable framework for analyzing the obstacles to sustainable behaviors in society. The combination framework will be used in conjunction with the 3R approach in this research to evaluate the issue and demonstrate the obstacles in China's agricultural industry more intuitively and effectively. This study will also analyze the reasons for the unsustainable use of straw in Chinese society from three perspectives: social, economic, and policy, and analyze how the sustainable use of straw in China can be achieved, including media communication, modification of production lines, and division of government function, according to the 3Rs and sustainable barrier framework.