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DOI: 10.1177/0013916505279045 Household Willingness to Recycle Electronic WasteAn Application to CaliforniaDepartment of Planning, Policy and Design in the School of Social Ecology at the University of California-Irvine
Department of Planning, Policy, and Design in the School of Social Ecology at the University of California-Irvine
Department of Environmental Health, Science, and Policy in the School of Social Ecology at the University of California-Irvine
Enterprise Engineering Division at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology Electronic waste (e-waste) has become the main contributor of lead to landfills in the United States. Households also store large volumes of e-waste, yet little is known about their willingness to recycle e-waste. This article starts filling this gap based on a 2004 mail survey of California households. Using multivariate models, the authors find that gender, education, convenience, and environmental beliefs but not income or political affiliation are key factors explaining the willingness to drop off e-waste at recycling centers. A comparison of an ordered probit with a semi-nonparametric extended ordered probit model of the survey responses shows that the latter better predicts less frequent answers. The results suggest targeting public education programs about recycling at teenagers or younger adults and making recycling more convenient for older adults; moreover, e-waste drop-off centers should first be created in communities that already offer curbside collection programs for conventional recyclable products.
Key Words: recycling behavior electronic waste principal components analysis seminonparametric extended ordered probit
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