Household recycling behavior and community-based waste management: An agent-based modeling of socioeconomic heterogeneity in urban Indonesia

Abstract

Municipal solid waste management in rapidly urbanizing countries is constrained by weak infrastructure, low household participation, and limited policy enforcement. Community-Based Waste Management has been promoted as a complementary strategy, yet its effectiveness is strongly shaped by socioeconomic heterogeneity. This study applies an agent-based model involving households, waste banks, and black soldier fly breeders in Umbulharjo sub-district, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, to examine how socioeconomic heterogeneity shapes behavioral responses to three interventions: (i) knowledge enhancement, (ii) waste-service charges, and (iii) a Pay-As-You-Throw system with validation against empirical data showing close alignment with observed waste flows. Scenario analysis reveals differentiated responses across income groups. Knowledge enhancement improved sorting across all groups but predominantly resulted in partial treatment. Waste-service charges strongly increased sorting, particularly among middle-income households, but paradoxically redirected sorted waste to landfills. PAYT produced the most balanced outcomes by reducing mixed waste and increasing treatment, with high-income households showing the largest shift toward full management while low-income households remained constrained by structural barriers despite high financial sensitivity. The findings demonstrate that single-policy instruments are insufficient. Effective CBWM requires integrated strategies combining awareness, economic incentives, and infrastructural support tailored to socioeconomic contexts.

Keywords: Community-based waste management; Financial incentives; Household waste behavior; PAYT system; Urban solid waste management; Waste sorting participation.