New study explores whether better environmental data can address local concerns

New study explores whether better environmental data can address local concerns

Does access to real-time information about air pollution levels change how people feel about living close to a recycling plant?

A new study by Dr Juliana Carneiro and colleagues in China and the USA looks at data from China to understand the impact of real-time environmental data disclosure on people’s housing preferences, and creates new insights into the economic benefits of environmental transparency.

The incineration of household waste as a means of creating energy has become a popular option for waste management, as an alternative to burying the waste in landfill.

Governments regard it as a sustainable option, but local residents can be opposed to the construction or expansion of these “Waste to Energy (WtE)” incineration plants, often citing health or environmental concerns.

Efforts to mitigate these fears by providing disclosure of environmental information have until now largely focused on one-off reports of negative incidents, or infrequent updates from inspection visits.

Dr Carneiro’s study takes advantage of a relatively recent policy in China – the 2017 IEN policy, which has made it a legal duty for plants to display real-time emissions data on public billboards at their entrances – to explore how such a detailed level of information influences local residents’ perceptions of risk and their decisions about where to live.

The paper, Real-time emissions data disclosure of Waste-to-Energy incineration plants and public risk perceptions: Evidence from the housing market sets out a theoretical model and then tests this against empirical data from over 35,000 housing transactions around 13 WtE plants.

The research finds:-

• After the implementation of IEN, the housing price gradient – the difference in price for properties close to a plant and those further away – become much flatter. This suggests that buyers are less concerned about buying a property close to a WtE plant that shares real-time information.
• The biggest change was seen in properties within 2km of a plant
• The most significant positive effects were seen where the plants had a good track record of complying with emissions limits, and up-to-date pollution control equipment.
• The change is not driven by a reduction in pollution, but a change in the level of local residents’ concerns about living close to a plant

The researchers hope that their findings will be of interest in many countries where environmental projects face local opposition.

Dr Carneiro said: “This research was driven by a desire to understand how transparency in environmental data can influence public perceptions and behaviour, especially around controversial infrastructure like Waste-to-Energy incineration plants.

Using China’s 2017 IEN policy as a natural experiment, we found that real-time emissions disclosure significantly reduced the housing price penalty near these plants—by about 34.7%, which translates to a meaningful economic gain for residents.

What’s especially compelling is that the effect was stronger near plants that complied with emission standards and used advanced pollution controls, suggesting that transparency works best when paired with good performance.

We believe these findings offer important insights for policymakers looking to build public trust and acceptance through data-driven environmental governance.”

Photo: An aerial view of residences in Pudong, Shanghai, China, a district where one of the WtE plants in the study is located.

Read more: Real-time emissions data disclosure of Waste-to-Energy incineration plants and public risk perceptions: Evidence from the housing market, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Volume 133, 2025, 103207, ISSN 0095-0696. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103207Link opens in a new window.