Application of extended theory of planned behavior to explore household pharmaceutical waste recycling intentions: a case study of China

Household pharmaceutical waste (HPW) contains several antibiotics and hormones, contaminating the environment, wildlife and human beings. Existing literature tends to overlook the determinants of HPW recycling intention, which has practical significance for taking environmental responsibility to minimize HPW and adverse environmental effects. The study adopted Extended Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to explore the impact of the key factors on HPW recycling for proposing a more targeted take-back system to solve the problem of difficult recycling. We gathered 459 valid household responses through an online questionnaire survey and employed the PLS–SEM technique to verify the validity and reliability. The results show that subjective norm and recycling attitude directly influences HPW recycling intention, except perceived behavioral control. As for the newly added variables, economic incentive, information publicity, and trust in manufacturers noticeably influence HPW recycling intention, in contrast, the trust in government and retailers is not significant in predicting HPW recycling intention. Furthermore, it is worth noting that information publicity can exert an indirect effect on recycling intention through subjective norms and recycling attitudes. This research provides guidance on increasing the involvement of households in recycling activity for designing and modifying the HPW reverse logistics.