Household Waste Sorting Participation in Developing Countries—A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Given the increasing efforts at improving waste management in developing countries, this study aimed to analyze factors that influence participation in household waste sorting. It thereby is the first review that extends the published literature on this topic. A meta-analysis was conducted that analyzed twelve influencing factors. A moderate correlation was found for the most strongly influential factors—attitude, moral norm, subjective norm and perceived behavior control—which indicates that people’s perception of waste sorting is most influencing in prompting participation in household waste sorting in developing countries. The results of this meta-analysis indicate that knowledge, situational factors, such as physical conditions, and governmental incentives can influence participation in household waste sorting in developing countries but the relationship between those factors and other factors with high correlations should be studied further. Notably, socio-demographic factors have the weakest influence on the participation in waste sorting in developing countries despite a large body of research on such factors. It can be constructive to take the relationship across the identified factors and the participation in waste sorting into consideration when aiming to implement measures to increase the participation in waste management schemes through waste sorting. The outcome of this study may contribute to recommendations and policy suggestions regarding the promotion of sustainable waste management through household waste sorting in developing countries.