Order ID 6463784949 Type Essay Writer Level Masters Style APA/MLA/Harvard/Chicago Sources/References 6 Number of Pages 5-10 Pages Description/Paper Instructions Shall you recycle?
Drivers to create a strategy for handling municipal solid waste in the United Arab Emirates
This paper investigates recycling behaviour in the society in United Arab Emirates (UAE). The aim is to identify factors pertaining to an abundant lack of citizens’ participation in recycling, and thus to form strategies to minimize this resistance. The proposed research model draws on stakeholder’s theory. A panel of fifteen experts and fifteen families were interviewed to develop a 14-item scale. Responses from 106 professionals in waste management from local authorities and private contractors were analysed through structural equation modelling technique. A number of predictors, motivators and enablers were identified to describe citizens’ behaviour about recycling municipal solid waste in the UAE. The most significant of those are laws and regulations, willingness to sort and recycle, and benefits of recycling. Future research could confirm the robustness of these findings by using a larger sample size. It would be worthwhile to validate the results in the other neighbouring countries. Drawing a contrast with employee’s behaviour on recycling is another potential area of research. This research guides managers, in light of stakeholder’s theory, in identifying the factors that describe recycling behaviours in a society. It is essential to envision the outlook of all the stakeholders about a greener future at an economic value. This research adds to the literature on recycling behaviour by drawing empirical insights on recycling behaviour from a stakeholder’s perspective.
Keywords: Recycling, United Arab Emirates, Behaviour, Waste, Municipal solid waste.
1 Introduction
Household recycling requires sorting the primary waste at home, separating recyclables from other garbage and putting them in appropriate bin (Hebrok and Boks, 2017). Recycling bins for plastic bottles and paper, are usually widely available and located close to households, as compared to those for batteries and electronics (Mintz et al., 2019).
Recycling behaviour has become an important aspect both in business practice and academia. The people in a society are generally inclined towards recycling if they are aware of the categories and have an easy access to recycling facilities (Meng et al., 2019). The level of environmental self efficacy is a direct predictor of a community’s recycling behaviour (Oliver et al., 2019). Once a community has reached a level of understanding, this very attitude is visible both inside and outside their homes; whether they are at work or on vacation. Thus, one could believe that environmental awareness builds intentions and attitude to foster a social norm (Al Mamun et al., 2019; Sujata et al., 2019).
Many socio-psychological variables have to be studied, to protect the environment, in the context of citizenship behaviour, private-sphere behaviour, and policy support (Stern et al., 1999). Besides, there is a need to identify the type of rewards for good practices that motivate citizens (Smallbone, 2005). Moreover, one needs to examine the extent to which the external factors encourage or limit sustainable behaviours in workplace, home and community settings (Young et al., 2015).
Despite many efforts for public-awareness on recycling, much is still required to convert wastes into reusable forms ( Paleologos et al., 2016). These efforts would primarily aim to educate consumers on distinguishing different types of wastes: residential; industrial; commercial; construction; institutional; municipal services; medical; agricultural; etc. (World Bank, 2019). Regulating authorities, on the other hand, evaluate municipal solid waste’s dynamic properties using geophysical tests (Naveen et al., 2017). These steps are meant to lead a society towards sustainable waste-management;, and eventually changing consumers’ behaviours and attitudes towards recycling wastes (Clarke et al., 2017; UN-Habitat, 2012). Literature on evaluating and improving citizens’ behaviour, however, is scarce.
The authorities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have taken many initiatives to safeguard environment, but citizens’ participation still remains insufficient. They have been recovering (recycling and reusing) 14% of non-hazardous wastes since 2017 (Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority, 2017). Therefore, this paper, triggered by the following research question, contributes to the literature on recycling behaviours by providing an empirical evidence from the perspective of waste management experts in the UAE. boost
What are the predictors, motivators and enablers in fostering recycling behaviour in a society?
The remainder of the paper is structured as follows. Section 2 reviews literature on the concept of recycling to identify relevant factors. Section 3 details the methodological approach and section 4 presents and analyses and findings. Discussions and conclusions are presented in section 5, including limitations, future research directions, and implications in theory and practice.
2 Literature Review
The literature on recycling behaviour has mainly focused on awareness, communication, regulations, and policies. However, the problem is more complex in developing countries due to their socio-economic and cultural distinctiveness, lack of financial resources, capacity of municipal and local authorities, and the public’s attitude (Byamba and Ishikawa, 2017).
2.1 Predictors for recycling behaviour
2.1.1 Benefits of recycling
Ecosystem services offered by urban green space not only promote environmental ecological sustainability but can also protect local public health (Escobedo et al., 2011). Besides reporting the benefits of these undertakings and providing support of proper infrastructure, by fostering greater competition for the resource, policymakers can encourage sustainability practices (Lee et al., 2018; Singh et al., 2014; and Penpece and Celik, 2011). Collaboration between local authorities and community groups can encourage stakeholders to engage with urban planners and ecologists to formulate plans for urban green spaces that promote public health, environmental equity, and partnership (Wolch et al., 2014). Moreover, recycling benefits all stakeholders by reducing pollution and improving citizen loyalty and public health.
2.1.2 Consumption
Recovering value from used goods and packages is a challenge in many businesses simply due to a lack of outlets to manage post-consumption waste. This challenge spans from collecting recyclable materials from community (consumers), facilitating sorting operations (sorting centres), to controlling the procurement of recyclable materials by stakeholders with divergent interests (Toso and Alem, 2014).
The quantity of recyclable materials entering recycling cooperatives depends on the consumption patterns of recyclable products, which differ based each region’s socio-economic profile. Wealthy neighbourhoods tend to consume more high-value, potentially more recyclable products than poorer ones. Environmentally conscious consumers are more likely to prefer green goods, while opting for brand and quality (McDonald et al., 2012). There is a recent drive from authorities to promote greener, ethical and more responsible decisions by an evaluation of recycling behaviour through various activities, such as usage, disposal, and point of purchase (McDonald et al., 2012).
2.1.3 Population
Population plays a vital role both in the consumption and generation of waste products. High- density cities are expected to commit more effort in promoting recycling and reducing wastes. Due to the higher marginal cost of space, households in high-density neighbourhoods may consume less physical products than households of equivalent size in low-density neighbourhoods, reflecting differences in income, hence generating lesser waste (Young et al., 2015). There may also be a greater risk to health in high-density areas from the illegal disposal of waste material (Young et al., 2015).
While increasing population can hinder effective waste management, it represents an opportunity to further understanding and motivating efforts to reduce waste (Johanssson, 2016).
2.1.4 Support and encouragement
A major source of encouragement for recycling comes from the significance of collective benefits over individual actions (Bratt, 1999). Facility-planning are key to developing a suitable reverse logistics network to tackle waste management and material recovery (Toso and Alem, 2014). Several other factors that impact the drive towards recycling may be the number of items collected, recycling fees and distance to facility ; Sidique et al., 2010).
Teachers and academics can also play an important role in forming behavioural changes through courses in environmental sciences. The formation and implementation of stringent legislation is also required to improve sorting and recycling of domestic waste material, especially wet waste, organic waste, and food waste (Singh et al., 2014). Owing to an increased awareness among customers about corporate responsibility, global supply chains have already started competing with their socially responsible strategies (Xia et al., 2015). This even calls for a heavy involvement of top and middle management in maintaining sustainable behaviours at the workplace (Young et al., 2015).
Local authorities use the participation rate of firms to evaluate community involvement in these practices and encourage various stakeholders to collectively build a common agenda for developing a sustainable economy (Tong et al., 2018). Subsequently, there would be a direct relationship between recycling behaviours and waste management practices in a society (Wright et al., 2011).
While the multicultural population in the UAE is on a rise (1.5% growth rate), the authorities are keen to identify the predictors that reflect the recycling behaviour in a local community. This paper is one of the first attempts in this stream of research.
2.2 Motivators for recycling behaviour
2.2.1 Awareness
Behavioural changes ago hand in hand with green development where a society is guided by clear actionable steps (Byamba and Ishikawa, 2017). Alongside the application of a charge model, incentives for waste reduction, source separation, and recycling can be pursued through supplementary instruments, such as persuasive mechanisms, education, advertising, and notices (Nazari et al., 2017). Furthermore, environmental programs can be used to show people how to divide their recycling roles (Meneses and Palacio, 2005).
It is important to understand how an effective voluntary behaviour is relevant to the social context of a household and their adoption and practice of environmental wellbeing (Scott et al., 2015). Educational system is vital in building effective awareness programs that boost the level of concern in a community (Meneses and Palacio, 2005; Abd’Razack et al., 2017). That is, with enough motivation and opportunity in place, a household would easily embrace to better environmental practices – Scott et al. (2015).
A sustainable environment that guarantees the fulfilment of the needs of future generations, is closely linked to social growth and psychological wellbeing in a society Corral-Verdugo and Frías-Armenta, 2016; Byamba and Ishikawa, 2017). This calls for authorities to overcome negative perceptions of recyclingby persuading the very reluctant (Meneses and Palacio, 2005).
For example, they can offer educational programs that reflect the current situation of waste in a holistic way (Byamba and Ishikawa, 2017). Besides, they could revisit the roles and responsibilities of several stakeholders in sorting and categorizing wastes (Xu et al., 2016). This effective communication would highlight both behavioural expectations and successes to citizens (Young et al., 2015; Meneses and Palacio, 2005). This is important in instilling pro-environmental values in a community (Thomas and Sharp, 2013).
2.2.2 Willingness to recycle
Many citizens are inspired by moral norms to recycle. They need to be informed about specific locations of recycling centres. Further details on environmental values, societal pressure for recycling in general, and the impact of poor waste disposal on public health can also be emphasized (Saphores et al., 2012). Environmental organizations and institutions must educate people about the adverse effects of dumping pollutants on public health and the climate. This, combined with stronger regulations, will help reinforce the moral and social norms that encourage pro-environmental behaviours (Saphores et al., 2012). This intrinsic motivation builds a willingness to participate in household recycling and makes people believe that sorting at home is better than sorting at a central facility (Czajkowski et al., 2017).
2.2.3 Knowledge
Knowledge about recycling materials along with the methods of recycling, and disposal processes have been shown to influence employee behaviour (Young et al., 2015). It is of immense significance that to increase willingness to recycle, authorities spread more ecological conscience or environmental knowledge, ecological involvement, and ecological self-realization among citizens (Meneses and Palacio, 2005; Abd’Razack et al., 2017).
Becoming proactive and having positive attitude towards recycling requires being well-informed. This can be achieved not only thorough the dissemination of information (leaflets, billboards, commercials, conferences, etc.) but also through increased involvement, habit formation, and overcoming inertia (Davies et al., 2002). Individuals with ecological attitudes tend to be more committed to recycling than those without such attitudes (Meneses and Palacio, 2005). More efforts must be made to increase households’ awareness of the three Rs of waste (reduce, reuse, recycle) to help citizens reduce the amount of solid waste they produce (Abd’Razack et al., 2017).
2.2.4 Convenience
Providing recycling containers close to work areas results in increased paper recycling (Penpece and Celik, 2011). However, some citizens consider recycling facilities as inconvenient because of the time and energy required for separating and storing the recyclables at home before their disposal (Siu and Xiao, 2016). Minimizing the distance between households and the trash containers may increase the convenience and facilitate transporting the residuals from households (Meneses and Palacio 2005). The physical layout of facilities and the clarity of instructions also influences individual recycling behaviour (Young et al., 2015).
Since, the authorities are setting a huge budget aside for inculcating of a culture of recycling in the UAE; it is extremely significant to highlight the motivators that compel the very citizens to incline towards the new social norm. This paper is one of the first attempts in this stream of research.
2.3 Enablers of recycling behaviour
2.3.1 Regulation and policies
Recycling efforts may be influenced both by laws and regulations as people cannot engage in recycling alone. Implementation of clear recycling policies impacts the generations of wastes though their amount varies with the type of materials (Young et al., 2015). For example, A transparent-garbage-bag policy increases the amount of recycled papers and decreases their disposal to landfills.
The other factors that affect recycling behaviour are the time and cost involved in alternative disposal options such as direct charges for disposal, the price of garbage bags, or expected penalties for illegal disposal. However, direct charges do not determine all recycling decisions as they are dominated by the time and cost of disposal options. For example, people in wealthier communities won’t like to waste time in recycling (Kuo and Perrings, 2010).
But the community’s response to authorities is always more when there is a proper infrastructure in place. For example, Korea observed changes in public consciousness when they introduced a volume-based garbage rate system and installed more incinerators for combustible waste. This not only led to improved recycling behaviour but also helped in recovering energy (Yang et al., 2015). Many other laws and policies, such as 4R are also helping Korea in reducing their household wastes (Yang et al., 2015).
2.3.2 Fines, rewards and incentives
Beyond simply improving recycling behaviour at home, citizens actively collect recyclables due to positive feedback and rewards upon their recycling efforts (Siu and Xiao, 2016; Young et al., 2015).
Fines presented as compensatory (versus retributive) are more likely to control infringements in conduct and are less likely to be viewed as moral transgressions (Kurz et al., 2014). But it is hard to draw any distinctions between positive and negative reinforcement interventions. To date, there has been no comprehensive review of how various forms of rewards (e.g. cash, lottery tickets, fines/fees) are more successful in promoting pro-environmental behaviours. Research has tended to focus on intervention components that can be paired with an incentive. Cost-free or low-cost interventions that can be paired with reward strategies may relate to successful interventions contributing to sustainable behaviour (Maki et al., 2016). Financial rewards drive customers to adopt long-term changes. Some incentives may have an effect even after they have been eliminated by improving fundamental attitudes. Incentives have significant cognitive side-effects as well. However, rewards can sometimes paradoxically inhibit the behaviour they are intended to encourage. Even if rewards are successful in encouraging target behaviour, they can also do more harm than good if they only briefly influence behaviour, or potentially demotivate customers to participate in other, more important types of positive acts that are not financially attractive (Bolderdijk and Steg, 2015).
Since waste production is a growing concern in the country, the authorities in the UAE have sought to build an infrastructure that helps in reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill. However, the literature lacks in a comprehensive framework that highlights the enablers of recycling behaviour in a community. This paper is one of the first attempts in this stream of research.
3 Theoretical Linkage
Only a limited research has tackled recycling and waste management from a theoretical perspective. Stakeholders theory is a perfect fit in this context as does not underwrite direct duties, but rather helps certain stakeholders to promote the principles that they share. For example, local communities may qualify as stakeholders, and community members may support businesses to lower pollution levels (Phillips and Reichart, 2000).
Stakeholders theory (Freeman, 1984) suggests that many groups, other than shareholders, who have stakes in a business, can affect or are affected by a firm’s objectives, and without the support from all these groups, the firm may not meet its goals (Blair et al., 2002)
Stakeholder theory identifies, prioritizes, and meets the needs and demands of each concerned group that affects organizational success. It also allows the responsibilities of each group to be reviewed (Freeman, 2010). This paper considers several stakeholders such as public (who should add their contribution and values), local authorities (responsible for providing awareness and facilities), contractors (private waste-collection entities that support the local authority), and regulatory bodies (responsible for policies, laws, and regulations).
4 Research Methodology and Framework
To identify, develop and validate a measurement scale for recycling behaviour, both qualitative and quantitative methodologies were adopted (Linderbaum and Levy, 2010). In-depth and detailed interviews were held to solicit insights from experts and families in the UAE. The experts were chosen based on their knowledge and diverse background in the field of recycling and waste management (Bryman, 2008). These experts work in recycling regulatory bodies, local authorities, contractors, and waste-management firms. On the other hand, families were chosen based on purposive sampling and their views were collected through open-ended questions to allow them to freely express themselves. The contents of these discussions/interviews were evaluated based on their perception of different motivators, predictors, and enablers in relation to citizens’ of recycling behaviour for each item (Figures 1 and 2).
Interviews were conducted with four municipal-related managers from the regulator bodies, five employees from the local authority concerning waste management and awareness programs, six contractors involved with waste management and waste collection across all the emirates, and fifteen families from Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah (Table 1).
A 14-item scale was generated from the qualitative analysis of interviews, and was referred back to the same experts for verifying the face validity and readability of the scale. (Heeler and Ray, 1972)
A survey method was employed to collect empirical data with this questionnaire based on a Likert scale, i.e. a 5 for strongly agreeing and a 1 for strongly disagreeing. Three hundred individuals local authorities, contractors and waste management firms were contacted through email. One hundred and six valid responses were collected after sending a reminder email. A Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy (KMO) test value of 0.865 (Table 3) indicate that the response rate is sufficient for further analysis. AMOS was employed to draw and validate the measurement and structural models with the specified antecedents of recycling behavior.
Figure 1. Research Framework
Figure 2. Research Approach
Table 1 – Interviews with Stakeholders
# Stakeholder Category Details No. of Interviews 1 Regulatory body Explore the current situation related to municipal waste recycling 4 2 Local authority Explore the current situation related to municipal waste recycling 5 3 Contractor/private company Explore the current situation related to municipal waste recycling 6 4 Families/citizens Challenges and motivators and attitudes when recycling Interviews 15 Total no. of interviews 30
5 Qualitative Analysis
Using NVivo, a final list showing motivators, enablers, and predictors of municipal solid-waste recycling behaviour was created, after eliminating repetitive responses and grouping them (Table 2).
5.1 Motivators
Citizens expressed their desire for more awareness and knowledge about sorting the waste and recycling processes as they were keen to know the strategy behind directives. They all showed their concern about environmental sustainability. On the other hand, regulatory bodies, local authorities and contractors wanted to achieve the goals set out in the UAE’s Vision 2021. They all were interested in ways to turn municipal solid waste into sources of energy and other products, hence leading to decreased use of landfill. Another concern shown by regulatory bodies was to make this weakness an opportunity for the community by spreading the word about the economic benefits of waste management to citizens. They believed the fines and penalties can only be considered after there is enough knowledge about recycling and waste management in the society.
5.2 Enablers
Local authorities and contractors agreed on the need for new regulations with fines and penalties to persuade the citizens to sort out their waste for recycling. Some families, however, stated that they would be encouraged by rewards and incentives such as discounts upon their contribution to the drive for better waste management.
All the interviewees agreed that communication between stakeholders is vital. An effective communication would elucidate the long term goals and objectives to community. Besides, it would enable the authorities to identify their progress and areas for improvement. Local authorities and contractors were more concerned with providing the best waste-management practices and sustainable treatment facilities.
5.3 Predictors
The interviews revealed that all concerned entities were working to overcome barriers to improving citizen’s recycling behaviour. Citizens, on the other hand, complained about the lack of time, knowledge and proper facilities. They also showed their concern over waste-collection trucks that mix all the waste in one truck.
Local authorities wanted to achieve sustainability and decrease consumption by directing citizen towards smart shopping. They believed that have to manage neighbourhoods based on their population and lifestyles.
Citizens also sought more control over the use of different categories of bins. They advocated the effectiveness of awareness programs. That is, the local authorities needed to go beyond providing instructions through their website and call centres, for the spread of the word.
On the other hand, local authorities and contractors were concerned with the low participation of citizens in recycling. They maintained their position on dealing with a large population of different cultures and languages while the community is not committed to recycling.
Table 2 highlights the perspectives of citizens, local authorities, contractors, and the regulatory bodies in relation to recycling behaviour.
Table 2 – Predictors, Motivators and Enablers of Recycling Behaviour
Predictors Motivators Enablers Lesser pollution (P1) Awareness programs (M1) Fines and penalties (E1) Benefits of recycling (P2) Willingness to sort and recycle (M2) Laws and regulations (E2) Lesser consumption (P3) Knowledge and understanding (M3) Rewards and incentives (E3) Growth in population (P4) Convenience to sort and recycle (M4) Loyalty and citizenship (P5) Public health (P6) Support and encouragement (P7)
6 Quantitative Analysis
6.1 Reliability and validity
Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to test the psychometric properties (reliability, validity, and model fit) of the measurement scale (Kline, 2015). Reliability was measured using the Cronbach’s alpha (Hair et al., 2010). The Cronbach’s alpha value for for the 14-item-scale was 0.897, indicating the scale’s internal consistency.
The Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) test in Table 3 shows the adequacy of the used sample (Hair et al., 2010; Kaiser, 1974).
Table 3 – KMO Measure of Sampling Adequacy and Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity.
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy. 0.865 Bartlett’s test of sphericity Approx. chi-square 767.567 Df 91 Sig. 0.000
Convergent validity was obtained since the average extracted variance of all the three factors was more than 0.5 (Hair et al., 2010). Similarly, discriminant validity was ascertained by testing if the square root of AVE of the three factors (diagonal values in Table 4) is more than their correlation with other factors (Hair et al., 2010).
Table 4 – Correlations between Constructs
CR AVE MSV Motivators Predictors Enablers Motivators 0.873 0.633 0.512 0.795 Predictors 0.881 0.517 0.512 0.716 0.719 Enablers 0.800 0.576 0.265 0.515 0.442 0.759
The first-order (measurement) model for testing recycling behaviour (Figure 3) implies that predictors, motivators and enablers are correlated but not governed by a common latent factor. With a significant c2 (p = 0.000), and other fit indices, Figure 3 acceptably supports the measurement model for recycling behaviour in the UAE.
The test of the second-order (structural) model (Figure 4) implies that a higher-order latent factor, i.e., the overall trait of recycling behaviour, governs the impact of predictors, motivators and enablers. The second-order model also produces an acceptable goodness of fit. An examination of the second-order model of the recycling behaviour construct reveals that all of the coefficient estimates of predictors, motivators and enablers, which describe the relationships or paths of the three factors on the higher-order construct of recycling behaviour, are significant. It can be seen that the highest and the lowest impact on recycling behaviour appear to be from motivators and enablers, respectively.
Predictors
e10
e20
e30
e40
e50
e60
e70
0.770
0.830
0.570
0.630
0.730
0.760
0.700
P7
P6
P5
P4
P3
P2
P1
Motivators
0.720
0.840
0.800
0.820
M3
M4
M2
M1
e80
e90
e100
e110
Enablers
e120
e130
e140
E1
E2
E3
0.720
0.510
0.440
c2 = 104 DOF = 72 CMIN/DOF = 1.45 CFI = 0.955 TLI = 0.944 RMSEA = 0.06
0.720
0.890
0.650
Figure 3. CFA Measurement Model for Recycling Behaviour
Predictors
e10
e20
e30
e40
e50
e60
e70
0.790
0.790
0.600
0.640
0.740
0.720
0.690
P7
P6
P5
P4
P3
P2
P1
Motivators
0.720
0.830
0.800
0.820
M3
M4
M2
M1
e80
e90
e100
e110
Enablers
e120
e130
e140
E1
E2
E3
c2 = 117 DOF = 74 CMIN/DOF = 1.58 CFI = 0.941 TLI = 0.927 RMSEA = 0.07
0.720
0.880
0.650
e150
0.100
e160
0.060
e170
0.470
0.810
0.900
0.580
Recycling Behaviour
Figure 4. CFA Structural Model for Recycling Behaviour
7 Discussion and conclusion
The literature clearly shows that citizens’ awareness is critical for improved waste removal and waste recycling. Owing to the fact that World Bank (2019) estimated the global amount of waste will increase substantially by 18% by 2025, this paper presents an investigation of recycling behaviour in the UAE. This research is unique in that it offers one of the first insight about citizens’ behaviour toward recycling. Therefore, the paper explores factors that can be implemented, changed, or improved to overcome the negative behaviour and the lack of proper awareness in the UAE.
This is one of the few studies to explore citizens’ recycling behaviour based on understanding their culture, examining shared goals/values, and exploring opportunities to increase a sense of belonging and enhance community involvement. The aim of this explorative study is to find the factors that will assist in persuading citizens towards the importance of recycling.
The significance of this study lies in analysing the predicting, motivating and enabling factors for recycling behaviour. Creating a positive attitude towards recycling and providing the necessary support and tools will make it easier overcome the barriers by engaging communities, thus also reducing operating costs. The study helps to prioritize the areas that need to be focused on and develop aims and objectives to create better recycling behaviour in the UAE.Employing the notion of stakeholders theory, the paper used a qualitative and quantitative approach through face-to-face interviews with the managers, contractors and families. The findings revealed that the main motives revolved around two factors: environmental concern; and knowledge and awareness.
Based on the qualitative interviews, a 14-item measurement scale was developed for citizens’ recycling behaviour in the UAE. The perceptions of several stakeholders were divided into enablers, motivators, and predictors.
Using 106 responses surveys from waste management professionals in the UAE, the key research objectives in the paper are (1) to explore the predictors, motivators and enablers of recycling behaviour in the UAE; (2) to propose a comprehensive framework of recycling behaviour; and, (3) to investigate and validate the impact of predictors, motivators and enablers on the recycling behaviour. The criterion-related validity of the research is tested with convergent and discriminant validity.
The first order CFA (measurement) model depicts that the three factors are distinct in nature to depict the recycling behaviour. On the other hand, the second order (structural) model implies that the three factors have a significant impact on the recycling behaviour.
The present research confirms that multiple factors and their measurement items should be comprehensively incorporated to obtain an overall image of recycling behaviour in a society. That is, a holistic perspective is better than studying the antecedents of recycling behaviour in isolation from others.
7.1 Limitations and Future Research
Though the paper contributes to literature and practice in general, it comes along with a number of limitations. For example, it is based on a small sample of respondents.
The overall scope of the paper entices researchers in several areas such as
- gaining further insight and understanding of the problems, challenges, and opportunities for waste reduction to achieve sustainability.
- investigating the role of waste management sites in providing sustainable solutions.
- analysing each stakeholder separately to find their best practices to overcome challenges in recycling.
- assessing the contrast in recycling behaviour at work and that at home
- comparing the indicators of recycling behaviour in the other parts of the world in general and the other regional countries in particular.
7.2 Theoretical Implications
Stakeholder theory emerged from the organizational context in which a firmis viewed as not self-sufficient and therefore dependent on external environment, made up of factors beyond the firm (Freeman, 2010).
This paper employs stakeholder theory by analysing the interests of different groups and individuals. This is critical for an organization to avoid neglecting the varying interests of their several stakeholders, to sustain their success in the long run (Jensen, 2001).
In the modern spectrum of business, environmental management strategies, or green strategies, encompass waste management and recycling; as a broader perspective of corporate social responsibility that it can use as an instrument that eventually leads to enhanced performance (Freeman, 2010).
7.3 Managerial implications
This paper is one of the first steps in furthering the knowledge about This study would assist in understanding the challenges and issues that hinder citizens’ participation in recycling by furthering understanding of the challenges and obstacles they face while highlighting improvements that can be made. This study, therefore, will benefit future researchers and policymakers. Moreover, the research at hand implies that:
- local authorities align themselves with private contractors for aligning their goals in reducing waste and costs effectively.
- stakeholders must collaborate and address their weakness through knowledge sharing and awareness programs
- authorities must focus on citizens’ involvement and participation in increasing environmental awareness to better tune their actions and attitudes. The use of a mobile app may be effective in this regard.
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