The effects of perceptions of environmental health risk and environmental risk on sustainable infectious waste management behaviours among citizens in Bangkok, Thailand

Abstract

This study aims to examine how people's perceived characteristics of environmental risks and environmental health risks, as associated with COVID-19 infectious waste problems, affect their participation in sustainable infectious waste management behaviours (i.e. infectious waste minimization, waste collection awareness, and infectious waste segregation). Questionnaires were conducted with 521 people living in Bangkok, Thailand. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was carried out to validate the study variables, followed by structural equation modelling (SEM) to test how perceived characteristics of environmental risks (perceived ecological threat occurrence to the environment and perceived severity of the threat to the environment), the environmental health risks themselves (perceived ecological threat occurrence to human health and perceived severity of the threat to human health) and socio-economic characteristics influence individuals' sustainable infectious waste management behaviours. The results revealed that perceived ecological threat occurrence to the environment and human health did not statistically affect all types of sustainable infectious waste management behaviours, but perceived severity of the ecological threat to human health significantly affected individuals' infectious waste minimization and segregation. Perceived severity of the ecological threat to the environment only affected infectious waste collection awareness. In addition, the respondents' age and education level positively and significantly affected most types of behaviours, whereas income only had a negative effect on respondents' infectious waste minimization. These results provide implications for the development of communication strategies to motivate people to participate in sustainable infectious waste management behaviours.