Perceived Convenience, Social Influence and Household Waste Sorting Behavior of Young Residents: An Empirical Study From a Developing Country

Waste management remains a challenge, especially for developing countries and effective waste separation plays a critical role of reduction in the amount of waste to ensure sustainable development goals. Aiming to investigate the waste sorting behavior of young residents in the second most populous city such as Hanoi, hosting numerous universities and colleges in Vietnam, we conducted an online survey with students from 10 universities in Hanoi via online platform and a sample size of 331 valid responses have been collected. Since we wish to provide insights into young residents’ awareness, knowledge, and behavior about environmental protection and waste separation, the convenience sampling method is employed. The result suggests that five influential factors positively affect young residents’ sorting behavior among which environmental attitude and perceived convenience have a greater impact on young residents’ sorting behavior. The underlying reasons are then discussed to provide policy implications which include environmental science courses as well as regulations on waste sorting at source.