Governments have been introducing strategies to reduce plastic waste. The reduction in plastic waste can be possible through single-use plastic avoidance. However, this is only possible with the proper understanding of the behavioral factors of single-use plastic avoidance behavior (SPAB). This study explores the factors that influence the decision-making process regarding SPAB in China, a major environmental problem, climate change, and global warming. The authors used a questionnaire survey to collect data from 421 respondents and analyze it using structural equation modeling (SEM). The study examines the effects of attitude, subjective norms (SNs), perceived behavior control (PBC), and policy intervention (PI) on single-use plastic avoidance behavior (SPAB) mediated by plastic avoidance behavioral intentions (PABI) and plastic-related environmental concerns (PREC). The analysis reveals that attitude, PBC, and PI significantly affect PABI, which affects SPAB. Moreover, PREC influences both PABI and SPAB. Furthermore, PI significantly impacts SPAB through PABI and PREC. The study suggests that effective PIs are crucial to reducing single-use plastic waste by shaping attitude, PBC, PABI, and PREC among the public and promoting pro-environmental behavior to achieve the objective of environmental sustainability.