Modeling consumer home composting intentions for sustainable municipal organic waste management in Iran

Hamid Rastegari Kopaei; Mehdi Nooripoor; Ayatollah Karami; Myriam Ertz; Hamid Rastegari Kopaei; Mehdi Nooripoor; Ayatollah Karami; Myriam Ertz

doi:10.3934/environsci.2021001

AIMS Environmental Science

2021, Volume 8, Issue 1: 1-17. doi: 10.3934/environsci.2021001

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Research article

Modeling consumer home composting intentions for sustainable municipal organic waste management in Iran

1.
Yasouj University, Yasouj, Kohgilouyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province, Iran
2.
Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, 555, Boulevard de l"Université, Canda

Received: 07 October 2020 Accepted: 25 January 2021 Published: 07 February 2021

Home composting (HC) can be a cost-effective strategy for organic solid waste management. This option is also desirable since HC is increasingly automated, with HC machines composting faster than conventional composting in outdoor settings. Besides, HC may reduce organic solid waste management costs, especially for developing countries with scarcer resources. Taking Iran as a study case, the paper examines the influence of variables pertaining to the theory of planned behavior, the value-belief-norm framework, and the technology acceptance model. This study uses data collected from a territory-wide survey (n = 367) of Isfahan's residents to predict HC intentions. The results show that both attitude and subjective norms appear as the most impactful of all variables. These results further vary according to sex, with women being significantly more prone to HC than men. The findings may provide a reference to implement HC in Iran and other developing countries and possibly developed ones.
- home composting,
- organic solid waste,
- pro-environmental behavior,
- theory of planned behavior,
- value-belief-norm theory,
- technology acceptance model
Citation: Hamid Rastegari Kopaei, Mehdi Nooripoor, Ayatollah Karami, Myriam Ertz. Modeling consumer home composting intentions for sustainable municipal organic waste management in Iran[J]. AIMS Environmental Science, 2021, 8(1): 1-17. doi: 10.3934/environsci.2021001

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Abstract

Home composting (HC) can be a cost-effective strategy for organic solid waste management. This option is also desirable since HC is increasingly automated, with HC machines composting faster than conventional composting in outdoor settings. Besides, HC may reduce organic solid waste management costs, especially for developing countries with scarcer resources. Taking Iran as a study case, the paper examines the influence of variables pertaining to the theory of planned behavior, the value-belief-norm framework, and the technology acceptance model. This study uses data collected from a territory-wide survey (n = 367) of Isfahan's residents to predict HC intentions. The results show that both attitude and subjective norms appear as the most impactful of all variables. These results further vary according to sex, with women being significantly more prone to HC than men. The findings may provide a reference to implement HC in Iran and other developing countries and possibly developed ones.

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