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ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Regional Differences and Evolution Trends
of Zero Waste Performance in China
1
School of Economics and Management, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China
2
College of Information and Management Science, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, China
Submission date: 2024-08-04
Final revision date: 2024-10-12
Acceptance date: 2024-11-10
Online publication date: 2025-01-29
Publication date: 2026-01-29
Corresponding author
Feng Zhang
College of Information and Management Science, Henan Agricultural University, No. 218, Ping An Avenue, Zhengzhou East New Distri, 450046, Zhengzhou, China
College of Information and Management Science, Henan Agricultural University, No. 218, Ping An Avenue, Zhengzhou East New Distri, 450046, Zhengzhou, China
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2026;35(1):157-168
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
The “zero waste city” strategy is a visionary initiative to address the solid waste problem by
minimizing landfill use and maximizing resource utilization. However, few studies have offered insights
into the regional differences and evolution trends of the performance of zero waste in China at the city
level. To address this gap, the present study assesses China’s zero waste performance using entropy
weight TOPSIS. Its regional differences and evolution trends are analyzed by employing the Dagum Gini
coefficient, kernel density estimation, and spatial Markov chains. The results indicate that China’s zero
waste performance shows an upward trend. The overall regional difference in zero waste performance is
narrowing and mainly derives from the inter-regional difference. The evolutionary characteristics of zero
waste performance vary in each region. The polarization of zero waste performance in the eastern region
diminishes, while the other three regions show an obvious aggravation of the polarization. China’s
zero waste performance presents a significant positive spatial correlation. It is also characterized by
spatial agglomeration and club convergence. These findings offer a theoretical foundation for promoting
the construction of a zero waste city in China and provide a valuable reference for waste management
in other developing countries.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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| eISSN: | 2083-5906 |
| ISSN: | 1230-1485 |
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