UNDERSTANDING THE DETERMINANTS OF CONSUMER COMPOSTING BEHAVIOR

This study compared 3 models of waste management behavior: (a) a theor y of reasoned action model, (b) an environmental belief-behavior model , and (c) an integrated waste management model which is based on the t heory of planned behavior. The three models were compared using data f rom a sample of over 1,400 individual respondents who each completed a survey and a 2-week diary of their consumer composting activities. Ov erall, the results suggest that while the environmental beliefs-behavi or model and the integrated waste management models both fit the data well, the integrated waste management model provided better predictive power and offers significant insight into the factors that influence composting behavior.