How Do Environmental Concerns and Governance Performance Affect Public Environmental Participation: A Case Study of Waste Sorting in Urban China

External Factors Impacting Residents' Participation in Waste Sorting Using NCA and fsQCA Methods on Pilot Cities in China

Recycling waste is important as it can help to reduce environmental pollution caused by "waste siege". Source classification is an important part of the municipal solid waste (MSW) sorting process. The factors that prompt residents to participate in waste sorting have been debated by scholars in recent years; however, there are not many papers that focus on the complex relationships between them. This study reviewed the literature that concerns residents' participation in waste sorting, and it summarized the external factors that might influence residents' participation. Then, we focused on 25 pilot cities in China, and we analyzed the configuration impact of external factors on residents' participation using a necessary condition analysis (NCA) and a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). We found no consistency between variables, nor was there one single condition that caused residents to participate in waste sorting. There are two main methods (environment-driven and resource-driven) that can help achieve a high participation rate, and three methods that can cause a low participation rate. This study provides suggestions for the implementation of waste sorting in other cities in China, as well as developing countries, with an emphasis on the importance of public participation.

Waste sorting behaviors promote subjective well-being: A perspective of the self-nature association

As one of the most important pro-environmental behaviors, individuals' waste sorting behaviors are positively associated with their subjective well-being. This relationship is usually explained by the "self-other association", regarding waste sorting behaviors as pro-social deeds, thus elevating people's positive self-perception and strengthening a sense of interpersonal relatedness. Distinct from the general "good deeds", the ultimate beneficiary of waste sorting behaviors is the natural environment instead of other people, so the mechanism underlying the positive relationship between performing a general good deed and subjective well-being might not suffice to explain the positive association between waste sorting behaviors and subjective well-being. The current study proposed the "self-nature association" with the cognitive (i.e., environmental perception) and the affective (i.e., nature connectedness) pathways. Using a large sample national survey in China (N = 4,705), we confirmed the positive link between waste sorting behaviors and subjective well-being, and the dual pathway was verified by a parallel mediation analysis. The theoretical and practical values of the present work were further explicated.

China's environmental solutions

China emits unproportionately high concentrations of CO₂ and, due to rapid population growth and industrialization, suffers from air, water, and soil pollution. However, many of these challenges for sustainable growth are being vigorously addressed, and China aims at a CO₂ emission peak by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060 ("dual carbon policy"). In addition, nation-wide programs attempt to achieve reforestation and ecological restoration. By 2025, core elements of a "bioeconomy" and a circular economy are expected to be ready. Many of these programs extend into China's international "belt-and-road" initiative (BRI). In this article, we briefly describe the present achievements of China's environmental solutions and the country's visions for a "digital, eco-friendly civilization." KEY POINTS: • China's steps towards environmental cleaning, eco-protection, and decarbonization. • Steps towards a future bioeconomy.

Government Trust, Environmental Pollution Perception, and Environmental Governance Satisfaction

Environmental governance is related to the healthy living standard of human beings and the sustainable development of an economic society. It is of great significance to explore the influence of government trust and environmental pollution perception on environmental governance satisfaction to improve the performance of government environmental governance. Based on the CSS2019 survey data, 3872 survey samples were statistically analyzed, and the optimal scale regression model was used to analyze the relationship between government trust, environmental pollution perception, and environmental governance satisfaction. The results showed that 52.27% of the respondents believed that the satisfaction of environmental governance was good, and both government trust and environmental pollution perception had significant positive effects on the satisfaction of environmental governance. The trust level of the central government, district and county governments, and township governments shows a "differential government trust" state, which is pyramidal. However, the impact of government trust on environmental governance satisfaction shows an inverted pyramid structure, and the township government has the largest effect, which is not matched with the distribution of government trust level. The influence effect of air pollution perception is relatively large, and the public is sensitive to air pollution. Government trust has an impact on the satisfaction of environmental governance through the "expectation-response" path. People are close to the township government and have the opportunity to contact and interact with the township government and its staff. They can directly observe the governance performance and share the public goods of environmental governance. Therefore, it is necessary to further improve the trust level of township governments, strengthen the control of air pollution and improve the township government's environmental governance ability.

The Impact of Environmental Information Disclosure on Environmental Governance Satisfaction

Recently, environmental information disclosure has increasingly become a popular rural environmental governance policy. Environmental governance satisfaction can reflect the government’s policy effect, and it is also residents’ subjective evaluation of environmental quality. This paper uses field questionnaire data in rural areas and establishes an ordered logit model to study the relationship between environmental information disclosure and residents’ satisfaction. The empirical results show that rural environmental information disclosure has a significant positive impact on residents’ satisfaction with environmental governance. Further research found that the impact process occurred through the mediating variable of residents’ evaluation of the surrounding ecological environment. In addition, residents’ knowledge of environmental protection has a moderating effect on the relationship between environmental information disclosure and satisfaction. Therefore, in rural environmental governance, local governments can increase environmental information disclosure to improve residents’ satisfaction and participation.

The Perception of Environmental Information Disclosure on Rural Residents’ Pro-Environmental Behavior

Rural residents’ pro-environmental behavior plays a critical role in rural environmental governance. This paper examines how the perception of government environmental information disclosure (EID) can promote rural residents’ pro-environmental behavior (PEB) using a questionnaire survey. Using Zhejiang province of China as a case study, we designed a four-stage mixed sampling method, which yielded 783 valid responses. We used ordinary least squares (OLS), an ordinal logit model and a mediation effect model to draw our conclusions. The results indicated that the EID had a positive impact on the PEB of rural residents. It is also evident that personal environmental concerns (PECs) play a partially mediating role between EID and PEB. Moreover, the impact of EID on PEB is heterogeneous in terms of residents’ age and workplace. This research contributes to insights into the promotion of guiding rural residents’ PEB and improving ecological environment management.