Social Risk Response Of PPP Waste-To-Energy Incineration Projects:Benefit Perception,Perceived Risk And Public Acceptance

Waste-To-Energy(WTE)incineration can effectively reduce pollution,improve the environment,and provide an effective solution to solve the Municipal Solid Waste(MSW)explosion and energy problems.In recent years,China's waste incineration power generation PPP project construction is in full swing.However,the construction of PPP WTE still faces strong opposition from local residents,who believe there are potential risks.This phenomenon is called Not in My Backyard(NIMBY).At present,domestic and foreign scholars put forward the factors such as benefit perception,perceived risk,public trust and equity perception as the key to solve the NIMBY effect,and conducted a large number of empirical studies to verify it.However,as one of the most direct and fundamental ways to solve the NIMBY effect,economic compensation affects the above factors and thus affects public acceptance.There is no relevant empirical research at home and abroad.The present study aims to understand whether,and how,economic compensation improves local residents' public acceptance towards Waste-To-Energy(WTE)incineration facilities using a questionnaire survey conducted with nearby residents of four selected WTE incineration plants located in Zhejiang province,Jiangsu province and Shanghai province.The results of data analysis using Structural Equation Modeling(SEM)reveal that firstly,economic compensation affects the ultimate public acceptance by influencing the benefit perception,perceived risk and public trust.Secondly,economic compensation has a significant positive effect on benefit perception and public trust,and a significant negative effect on perceived risk.Thirdly,housing replacement and social security enhancement play a prominent role in improving public acceptance of various compensation measures.This study will improve the public's attitude towards different economic compensation of NIMBY facilities and deepen the Chinese government's understanding of the solutions to NIMBY facilities.By analyzing the impact of different economic compensation methods on the public acceptability,relevant strategies and measures are proposed for the administrative managers to solve the nimby effect of PPP WTE projects.It provides reference for the application of economic compensation in waste incineration power generation industry to solve the problems of site selection,construction and operation.At the same time,it provides reference significance for PPP mode suppliers to solve social risks.