With the development of urbanization in China, tons of municipal solid waste have been produced and disposed Incineration is the best way to deal with municipal solid waste in China but this practice often is opposed and resisted by the public who live nearby. This study systematically analyzed the risk responses of the public, in particular factors affecting the public’s resistant behavior We conducted a survey and collected 376 valid questionnaires which we used for the analysis. We used the structural equation model and path analysis for the examination, and the results showed that risk perception was a critical factor predicting the resistant behavior of the public surrounding the wasteto-energy (WTE) plant. Benefit perception had a negative, but insignificant, impact on the public’s resistant behavior. We found a negative correlation between benefit perception and risk perception but the relationship was weakened when we added systematic processing to the path analysis. The impact of system processing on risk perception was greater than that of benefit perception; that is, systematic processing was better in explaining the risk judgment of the public than benefit perception. Problem knowledge was a significant indicator in predicting risk perception and systematic processing and technology knowledge was a significant indicator in predicting risk perception and benefit perception. Systematic processing increased the public’s risk judgment to the WTE plant. Finally, we discussed practical implications and limitations.