The impact of government incentives and penalties on willingness to recycle plastic waste: An evolutionary game theory perspective

doi:10.1007/s11783-019-1208-2

Front. Environ. Sci. Eng.

2020, Vol. 14

Issue (2) : 29 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-019-1208-2

RESEARCH ARTICLE

The impact of government incentives and penalties on willingness to recycle plastic waste: An evolutionary game theory perspective

Zhen Wang¹, Jiazhen Huo^1,²(

), Yongrui Duan^1,²

¹. School of Economics and Management, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
². Bosch-Tongji University Chair of Global Supply Chain Management, Shanghai 200092, China

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Abstract

• Punishments increase the participation probability of collectors and recyclers.

• Policy-sponsored incentives make collectors and recyclers to participate earlier.

• Recyclers are more sensitive to government punishments than collectors.

Because governments have introduced policies involving incentives and penalties to promote the recycling of plastic waste, it is important to understand the impact of such incentives and penalties on the willingness of stakeholders to participate. In this study, government is included as a player, alongside waste collectors and recyclers, in a tripartite evolutionary game model of plastic waste recycling. The study explores the evolutionary equilibrium and performs a simulation analysis to elucidate the effect of government incentives and penalties on the willingness of other players to participate in recycling. Three conclusions are drawn from this research. First, an increase in incentives or in penalties increases the probability that collectors and recyclers will participate in the recycling process. Second, policy support incentives encourage collectors and recyclers to participate in plastic waste recycling earlier than subsidy incentives do. Finally, recyclers are more sensitive than collectors to government-imposed penalties.

Keywords Plastic waste Recycle Reuse Government incentives Government penalties Evolutionary game

Corresponding Author(s): Jiazhen Huo

Issue Date: 15 January 2020

Cite this article:

Zhen Wang,Jiazhen Huo,Yongrui Duan. The impact of government incentives and penalties on willingness to recycle plastic waste: An evolutionary game theory perspective[J]. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng., 2020, 14(2): 29.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/10.1007/s11783-019-1208-2
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/Y2020/V14/I2/29

Stakeholder		Recyclers
Stakeholder		Join	Not Join
Collectors	Join	$[I 1 − G C 1 I 2 + n I − C 1 + r S I 3 + (1 − n) I − C 2 + (1 − r) S + G C 2]$	$[I 1 − G C 3 I 2 − C 1 + r S + P R I 3 − P R + E 2]$
Collectors	Not Join	$[I 1 − G C 1 I 2 + E 1 − P C I 3 − C 2 + (1 − r) S + P C + G C 2]$	$[I 1 − G C 3 I 2 I 3]$

Tab.1 Payoff matrix with government incentives

Stakeholder		Recyclers
Stakeholder		Join	Not Join
Collectors	Join	$[I 0 I 2 + n I − C 1 I 3 + (1 − n) I − C 2]$	$[I 0 I 2 − C 1 + P R I 3 − P R + E 2]$
Collectors	Not Join	$[I 0 I 2 + E 1 − P C I 3 − C 2 + P C]$	$[I 0 I 2 I 3]$

Tab.2 Payoff matrix without government incentives

Equilibrium Point	Det(J)	Tr(J)
(0, 0, 0)	$[(1 − m) I 1 − G C 1] [P R − C 1] [P C − C 2]$	$[(1 − m) I 1 − G C 1] + [P R − C 1] + [P C − C 2]$
(0, 0, 1)	$[(1 − m) I 1 − G C 1] [n I + P C − E 1 − C 1] [C 2 − P C]$	$[(1 − m) I 1 − G C 1] + [n I + P C − E 1 − C 1] + [C 2 − P C]$
(0, 1, 0)	$[(1 − m) I 1 − G C 1] [P R − C 1] [(1 − n) I + P R − E 2 − C 2]$	$[(1 − m) I 1 − G C 1] + [P R − C 1] + [(1 − n) I + P R − E 2 − C 2]$
(0, 1, 1)	$[(1 − m) I 1 − G C 1] [C 1 + E 1 − n I − P C] [C 2 + E 2 − (1 − n) I − P R]$	$[(1 − m) I 1 − G C 1] + [C 1 + E 1 − n I − P C] + [C 2 + E 2 − (1 − n) I − P R]$
(1, 0, 0)	$[G C 1 − (1 − m) I 1] [P R + r S − C 1] [G C 2 + P C + (1 − r) S − C 2]$	$[G C 1 − (1 − m) I 1] + [P R + r S − C 1] + [G C 2 + P C + (1 − r) S − C 2]$
(1, 0, 1)	$[G C 1 − (1 − m) I 1] [n I + P C + r S − E 1 − C 1] [C 2 − (1 − r) S − G C 2 − P C]$	$[G C 1 − (1 − m) I 1] + [n I + P C + r S − E 1 − C 1] + [C 2 − (1 − r) S − G C 2 − P C]$
(1, 1, 0)	$[G C 1 − (1 − m) I 1] [C 1 − r S − P R] [(1 − r) S + G C 2 + (1 − n) I + P R − E 2 − C 2]$	$[G C 1 − (1 − m) I 1] + [C 1 − r S − P R] + [(1 − r) S + G C 2 + (1 − n) I + P R − E 2 − C 2]$
(1, 1, 1)	$[G C 1 − (1 − m) I 1] [C 1 + E 1 − r S − n I − P C] [C 2 + E 2 − (1 − r) S − G C 2 − (1 − n) I − P R]$	$[G C 1 − (1 − m) I 1] + [C 1 + E 1 − r S − n I − P C] + [C 2 + E 2 − (1 − r) S − G C 2 − (1 − n) I − P R]$

Tab.3 Det(J) and Tr(J) in the Jacobian matrix J for the eight local equilibrium points

Fig.1 Changes in the intensity of government policy support.

Fig.2 Changes in the government subsidies

Fig.3 Influence of the government incentives.

Fig.4 Changes in the government fines for collectors.

Fig.5 Changes in the government fines for recyclers.

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