Source-Separated Collection of Rural Solid Waste in China

The rapid urbanization progress and the continuous improvement of rural residents’ living standards are contributing to the increase in rural solid waste (RSW) in China. RSW generation rates range from 0.25 to 2.3 kg (capita d)−1 in different rural areas, and the real total RSW generation amount was far higher than official data in 2014. RSW is dominated by food residue and coal ash/cinder/dust in rural China, and most of it is discarded randomly without any treatment. In this work, rural household behaviors toward RSW treatment and their perceptions in terms of awareness and attitudes on the source-separated collection of RSW are investigated with a questionnaire survey consisting of 518 valid samples. The results indicated that some rural households had spontaneously separated the recyclable waste and food waste to some extent. The public were aware of the importance of RSW separation through various media, and more than half of households were willing to participate in a separation program. The dominant barriers to participation were the lack of awareness of separation, inconvenience, and an insufficient separation facility (53.7%). 62.5% of rural households had a positive willingness to pay (WTP) for RSW separation and management, and the mean WTP was estimated to be 3.8 USD/year. Age, annual household income, and location significantly influenced the respondents’ WTP. More positive policy is necessary to encourage the local government to devote efforts to provide collection service and improve RSW management by combining the governmental financial budget and rural household payments.