title: Risk perception and public acceptance toward a highly protested Waste-to-Energy facility.
abstract: The application of Waste-to-Energy treatment in Municipal Solid Waste faces strong protest by local communities, especially in cities with high population densities. This study introduces insight into the public awareness, acceptance and risk perception toward Waste-to-Energy through a structured questionnaire survey around a Waste-to-Energy facility in Shanghai, China. The Dichotomous-Choice contingent valuation method was applied to study the willingness to accept of residents as an indicator of risk perception and tolerance. The factors influencing risk perception and the protest response choice were analyzed. The geographical distributions of the acceptance of Waste-to-Energy facility and protest response were explored using geographical information systems. The findings of the research indicated an encouraging vision of promoting Waste-to-Energy, considering its benefits of renewable energy and the conservation of land. A high percentage of protest willingness to accept (50.94%) was highlighted with the effect of income, opinion about Waste-to-Energy, gender and perceived impact. The fuzzy classification among people with different opinions on compensation (valid 0, positive or protest willingness to accept) revealed the existing yet rejected demand of compensation among protesters. Geographical distribution in the public attitude can also be observed. Finally significant statistical relation between knowledge and risk perception indicates the need of risk communication, as well as involving public into whole management process.
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Key Lab for Urban Ecological Processes and Eco-Restoration, East China Normal University, No. 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200241, China. Electronic address: xiangyusherry@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Xiangyu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Key Lab for Urban Ecological Processes and Eco-Restoration, East China Normal University, No. 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200241, China. Electronic address: yche@des.ecnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Che
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Key Lab for Urban Ecological Processes and Eco-Restoration, East China Normal University, No. 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200241, China. Electronic address: kyang@re.ecnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Key Lab for Urban Ecological Processes and Eco-Restoration, East China Normal University, No. 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200241, China. Electronic address: tay2009cj@163.com.
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tao
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D002681:China; D002947:Cities; D003142:Communication; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods; D016002:Discriminant Analysis; D004736:Energy-Generating Resources; D005260:Female; D040362:Geographic Information Systems; D005843:Geography; D006801:Humans; D017745:Incineration; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011639:Public Opinion; D012306:Risk; D012923:Social Class; D062611:Solid Waste; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D018505:Waste Management / Q000379:methods*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D062611:Solid Waste
keywords: Geographical distribution; Protest willingness to accept; Public acceptance; Risk perception; Waste-to-Energy