Incentivizing household recycling crowds out public support for other waste management policies: A long-term...

Waste management is a prototypical issue that requires multiple policy measures to function together. Yet, the compatibility between waste management policies is vastly understudied. In this paper, we used a longitudinal quasi-experimental methodology to identify the effect of an incentivized household recycling program in Anji, China on public support for other waste management policies. The program was evaluated six and fifteen months after it was implemented, respectively. We found that, despite its positive influence on residents' self-reported recycling behavior, the program reduced support for policy measures concerning waste prevention and harmless disposal. Consistent with the theoretical propositions, such crowding-out was driven by the decrease in personal commitment to pro-environmental goals, perceived issue importance of environmental sustainability, and perceived importance of individual contribution to environmental goods. Further evidence suggests that the crowding-out effect attenuated but did not disappear in the long run. These findings contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the holistic relationships between waste management policies, indicating that incentive-based recycling policies can interact negatively with other waste policies by reducing public support for them.