A dynamic perspective on “not in my backyard” effects: Comparing public attitudes toward waste-to-energy power plants in first-tier cities of China from 2019 to 2024

The literature on environmental management points out that the “not in my backyard” (NIMBY) effect is a critical barrier to developing waste-to-energy power plants (WEPPs). As environmental awareness increases and technological advancements in WEPPs improve, public acceptance of such facilities may change dynamically. Based on two large-scale online surveys conducted in four first-tier cities in China in 2019 and 2024, collecting 6689 valid responses, we utilized the contingent valuation method to assess the NIMBY effect regarding WEPPs and captured its evolution over the five-year period. Our findings indicate: (1) Over the past five years, the public's NIMBY effect has lessened. (2) In both surveys, residents of Beijing exhibited the highest NIMBY effect, followed by Shanghai and Shenzhen, with Guangzhou residents showing the lowest. (3) In 2019, the NIMBY effect was stronger among males than females; however, this gender difference was not significant in 2024. (4) In 2024, homeowners demonstrated a stronger NIMBY effect compared to renters, while no significant difference was observed in 2019. (5) Enhanced information accessibility, such as residents' knowledge of WEPPs, the openness of WEPPs to the public, and the transparency of pollution emissions, can mitigate public NIMBY toward WEPPs.