Plastic pollution is a matter of deep concern that requires an urgent and international response, involving stakeholders at all levels. The rapid increase of single-use plastic and medical waste, especially in the context of COVID-19, has caused a drastic progression in the plastic pollution crisis on a global scale. To identify an efficient plastic waste management (PWM) system to tackle this major environmental problem, this study adopted importance-performance analysis and used logistic regression to identify key factors affecting citizens’ behavior to participate in PWM strategies in Vietnam. The results indicate that while the importance of all PWM solutions was considered to be high, their performance was rated at a low level, implying a sizable gap between perceived importance and performance of eleven solutions for PWM. The findings also show that solutions such as “offering zero-waste lifestyle seminars to citizens”, “having community engagement”, “using eco-friendly products”, and “imposing a ban on single-use plastics” are useful for the development of an effective environmental policy. Furthermore, it was found that the following characteristics have a significant influence on citizens’ participation in PWM solutions: (1) gender, (2) education level, (3) residential area, (4) employment status, and (5) citizens’ awareness and behavior towards plastic reduction. This study is expected to provide theoretical and empirical evidence for policymakers and authorities who are in charge of promulgating the necessary mechanisms and policies to promote the socialization of PWM.

In this paper, we present a conceptual framework of human–elephant conflict (HEC) management embodying community aspects gleaned from the importance–performance analysis (IPA) for a National Park in Vietnam. Nine approaches were proposed to prevent and mitigate HEC (HEC indicators), of which six fell into different quadrants based on the respective estimations of farmer and non-farmer respondents. Both the levels of importance and performance (I-P) of the HEC indicators are evaluated between (I-P) among farmers and non-farmers. Locals perceived the importance of all HEC indicators highly, but they thought its performance is poor. Third, we confirm the factors affecting the locals’ participation behavior towards HEC management based on their demographics, awareness, and behavior in terms of HEC, and their perceptions of HEC. Compared to the non-farmer residents, the farmers recognized that the management strategy of HEC must focus on the aspects of building an insurance scheme and implementing appropriate land use planning. The characteristics that affect the differentiation of the locals’ participation of HEC management are: (1) higher income residents, (2) farmers, (3) residents who would like to participate in an insurance scheme, and (4) the HEC management factors. Theoretical insights and management implications are also addressed in this study.

This study aims to conduct an importance-performance evaluation framework under the theoretical aspects of adaptive capacity for community-based plastic waste management (CBPWM). Additionally, we identified the matrix of the importance-performance levels of CBPWM, and estimated the community’s adaptive behavior towards CBPWM. The results indicate that residents have a high perception of the importance of all adaptation indicators in CBPWM, but perceive the indicators’ implementation is plagued by poor performance. The respondents emphasize the significance of several adaptation indicators that can enhance the adaptive capacity for CBPWM, namely, “developing waste collection systems”, “building connections between resident associations”, “collaborating among stakeholder’s groups”, “adopting a zero-waste lifestyle”, and “empowering independent waste collectors”. The study also reveals that socioeconomic, perceptual, and behavioral factors related to adaptation indicators impact residents’ willingness to participate in CBPWM strategies. This study is valuable as a starting point for building community adaptive capacity for plastic waste management. It is relevant to addressing both current and future plastic pollution problems in Vietnam, as it is based on actual assessments of the community. Determining the importance and performance of adaptive indicators provides valuable insights for policymakers in developing mechanisms and promoting opportunities for CBPWM.