China's rapid economic development has led to a surge in waste production, particularly in rural areas. Inadequate waste management poses significant environmental threats. To address this, China has implemented waste separation policies. However, the impact of internet use on rural waste sorting practices remains understudied. This study explores this gap by examining the relationship between internet use and domestic waste sorting behavior among farm households across diverse regions of China. The study is crucial because it investigates the influence of digital technology on farmers' environmental behavior, a largely unexplored area.

Existing research on the relationship between ICT and waste management primarily focuses on smart technologies and urban populations, overlooking the micro-level effects on rural farmers' behavior. While economic factors, government subsidies, and policy advocacy influence waste separation, internal perceptions and cognitive frameworks also play crucial roles. The internet is hypothesized to affect farmers' decisions by improving information access, reducing decision costs, and shaping environmental consciousness. However, the potential for biased information and path-dependent behavior also needs consideration. This study aims to fill these research gaps by focusing on the micro-level impacts of internet use on farmers' waste sorting behavior in rural China, using a large sample size and a robust statistical model.

This study employs an Ordered Probit Model (OPM) to analyze data collected through questionnaires from 2126 rural households across eastern, central, and western China. The dependent variable is farmers' domestic waste sorting behavior, categorized into four levels: no sorting, sorting valuable waste only, sorting valuable and food waste, and sorting all three categories. The core explanatory variable is internet use (IU), measured by whether households use mobile phones or computers to access information. Control variables include gender, age, education level, income, village cadre status, party membership, main income source (farming), presence of security cameras, distance to the nearest junior high school, satisfaction with local environmental quality, and satisfaction with environmental publicity. The OPM allows for the analysis of ordered categorical data, providing a more nuanced understanding than traditional linear regression. The study also uses marginal effects to quantify the impact of internet use on each waste sorting category. Robustness checks are performed using alternative measures of internet use and employing an Ordered Logit Model (OLM). Heterogeneity analysis examines the relationship across gender, age, income, and education groups.

The OPM analysis reveals that internet use significantly and positively influences farmers' participation in domestic waste sorting. This finding is consistent across different model specifications and robustness checks. Specifically, compared to non-internet users, internet users are 14.9% less likely to not sort their waste. The marginal effects show that internet use increases the probability of sorting into category 2 (valuable waste only) by 3.86%, category 3 (valuable and food waste) by 5.99%, and category 4 (all three waste categories) by 5.04%. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the positive effect of internet use is stronger for women, older farmers, low-income farmers, and farmers with lower levels of education. These groups benefit most from the improved information access provided by the internet.

The findings support the hypothesis that internet use positively influences farmers' participation in domestic waste sorting. The internet's role in reducing information asymmetry, lowering decision costs, and fostering environmental awareness is evident. The stronger impact on marginalized groups suggests that internet access can be a powerful tool for promoting environmental behavior equity. The results highlight the potential of digital technologies in addressing environmental challenges in developing contexts. The study's findings offer valuable insights for policymakers seeking to improve rural waste management.

This study demonstrates the significant positive impact of internet use on farmers' domestic waste sorting behavior in rural China. The positive effects are particularly pronounced for marginalized groups, highlighting the potential of internet access to improve environmental equity. This research underscores the importance of integrating digital technologies into environmental initiatives in developing countries and suggests further research into the specific mechanisms driving this relationship and the long-term impacts of internet usage on environmental behavior change.

The study relies on cross-sectional data, limiting the ability to establish causal relationships definitively. The self-reported nature of the data may introduce some bias. Future research should explore the causal mechanisms in more detail, potentially through longitudinal studies or experiments. The study's focus on China may limit the generalizability of the findings to other countries with different contexts.