What Influences Consumers to Recycle Solid Waste? An Application of the Extended Theory of Planned Behavior in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Yasir Ali Soomro, Irfan Hameed, Muhammad Yaseen Bhutto, Idrees Waris, Yasser Baeshen and Bader Al Batati
Additional contact information
Yasir Ali Soomro: Faculty of Economics and Administration, King AbdulAziz University, Jeddah 21577, Saudi Arabia
Irfan Hameed: College of Business Management, Institute of Business Management, Karachi 75190, Pakistan
Muhammad Yaseen Bhutto: Business School, Shandong Jianzhu University, Jinan 250101, China
Idrees Waris: Department of Management Sciences, University of Turbat, Turbat 92600, Pakistan
Yasser Baeshen: Faculty of Economics and Administration, King AbdulAziz University, Jeddah 21577, Saudi Arabia
Bader Al Batati: Jeddah College of Advertising, University of Business and Technology, Jeddah 23435, Saudi Arabia

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 2, 1-20

Abstract: This extant study attempts to present a comprehensive predictive model for solid waste recycling behavior. Solid waste is a major environmental concern globally. Particularly, the kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), being the larger gulf country in the Middle East is a major contributor to solid waste. Consequently, this study was carried out to identify the motivational factors that consumers consider important for recycling their household waste. We extended the theory of planned behavior (TBP) and utilized actual behavioral variables such as resell, reuse, and donation. A structured questionnaire was carried out with 365 purposively selected respondents in the KSA. Among several other noteworthy findings consistent with previous studies, we found that reselling was the most significant factor of recycling behavior followed by donation. Further, the multi-group analysis (MGA) results reveal significant group differences in gender and age variables; the significance test indicates that the male group has much better pro-environmental behavior than the female group. In terms of age, our results showed that recycling intention and reselling behavior passed a significant test in the elderly group when compared to a younger group. This study has unique contributions and findings leading to practical implications for government authorities, businesses, and non-governmental organizations. The findings will particularly aid in increasing the recycling intention and behavior among household consumers. This research will guide in making laws and policies that can help to embrace the green challenges and boost recycling activities for a sustainable environment.

Keywords: recycling waste; theory of planned behavior; moral norms; convenience; awareness of consequence; resell; reuse; donate (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/2/998/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/2/998/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:2:p:998-:d:726316

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().