Determinants of WEEE Recycling Behaviour in Romania: A fuzzy Approach

High levels of WEEE and limited capacities for disposal and recycling, together with the necessity to transpose the European legislation into national law have shaped the profile of WEEE system in Romania. In order to improve the functionality of this system it is important to understand the citizens’ behaviour towards WEEE recycling. Recent research conducted in different countries suggest that various determinants, such as socio-economic and demographic factors, environmental knowledge, habits, convenience, motivations, can be used to analyse WEEE recycling behaviour. The results are contradictory and demonstrate that the peculiarities of each country have different influences on how people engage in WEEE collection and recycling. In the present paper, using hypotheses testing we have developed a WEEE recycling behaviour model for Romanians. It was assumed that socio-demographic factors and personal norms would predict WEEE recycling attitude and attitude, contextual forces, knowledge and recycling habits would influence WEEE recycling behaviour. The data, gathered using a survey, were processed using a fuzzy approach. The results showed that in the Romanian context the strongest determinants of WEEE recycling behaviour are people attitudes and habits. Moderate effects have recycling knowledge, pro-environmental norms and institutional support, while gender, income, perception of availability of collection points and regulations haven’t any influence.