Investigating waste recycling intentions of top management in Bangladesh's leather industry: A hybrid analytical framework

The leather industry in Bangladesh grapples with significant environmental challenges related to harmful waste discharge, intensifying the urgency for industry leaders to address pollution concerns through effective waste management. In light of this, waste recycling becomes a viable avenue to mitigate environmental degradation. However, limited research exists that specifically focuses on the behavioral inclination of top management toward waste recycling, especially within the context of the leather industry. To address this literature gap, this research seeks to investigate the intention of top management to recycle waste in Bangladesh's leather industry. The foundational theoretical framework for constructing the research structure is the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). A hybrid multi-method technique was employed, combining Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) approaches to uncover symmetric and asymmetric effects of various antecedents on waste recycling intention. The PLS-SEM findings reveal a significant impact of attitude, perceived behavioral control, and perceived environmental concern on the intention to recycle waste. While fsQCA results suggest the continued importance of subjective norms in the model by revealing its moderate causal impact, a finding that diverges from the initial PLS-SEM results, which found it to be non-significant. The study extends and contextualizes the TPB theory in waste recycling intention and applies a hybrid method, making significant contributions to the existing literature. Furthermore, these findings offer valuable insights for practitioners and policymakers in the leather industry, aiding in crafting impactful interventions to foster pro-environmental actions.