From Campus Carbon Points to Carbon Inclusion for All: Insights into Incentive Mechanisms for Second-Hand Trading in Promoting the Circular Economy—A Survey of AP High School Students

Abstract

Establishing a waste recycling system is an important component of China’s dual-carbon goals, and second-hand trading is one of the links closest to daily life. Teenagers are both a major source of idle items and a key group for cultivating green consumption habits; however, empirical research on incentive mechanisms for campus second-hand trading remains limited. A questionnaire survey was conducted among students at an AP international high school, yielding 48 valid responses (items 8–10 were based on 46 responses collected at an earlier stage). The results show that: (1) the average annual spending on school supplies was about CNY 1,536 per capita and the original value of idle items was about CNY 784 per capita, yet 87.5% of the respondents left idle items "gathering dust at home" and only 12.5% had ever sold items through off-campus platforms, indicating a low-circulation path of "idling–discarding" that causes significant waste; (2) the mean willingness to sell was 3.63, with 47.9% of respondents showing strong willingness (a score of 4 or above), whereas the mean willingness to buy was only 2.96, revealing a marked supply–demand asymmetry; (3) the main barriers on the selling side were transaction costs ("too troublesome" 68.75%, "unsure how to price" 39.58%), while those on the buying side concerned quality and trust ("worry about outdated editions or broken calculators" 52.17%, "dislike of items used by others" 45.65%); and (4) regarding incentive preferences, "quick cash-out" (65.22%) and "unified platform collection and resale" (63.04%) were the most attractive options, whereas "campus carbon points/service hours" was less attractive on its own (21.74%) but showed considerable potential once linked to institutional resources. Accordingly, a "campus carbon points–service-hours accreditation" incentive mechanism is designed, and a three-level pathway of "campus–region–society" for promoting carbon inclusion is proposed, providing a reference for extending the circular economy from campus to society.