Households’ Willingness to Pay for Improved Waste Collection Service in Gorkha Municipality of Nepal

Abstract

Municipal solid waste management is a growing problem in urban areas of Nepal where municipalities are severely constrained by budget to manage it effectively. Collecting fees from the public can aid finance for improving waste management service. This study evaluates willingness to pay (WTP) by 401 households, selected using a stratified sampling method from all 15 wards of Gorkha municipality of Nepal for improved waste collection service and the factors influencing it. We employed a contingent valuation method to elicit households' WTP, logit regression model to determine factors influencing WTP and tobit regression model to determine factors influencing the maximum amount households are willing to pay for improved waste collection service. Majority of households (61%) are willing to pay an average amount of NRs. 73.38 (0.72 US$) per month. Factors that significantly influence households' WTP are monthly household income, education of household head, environmental awareness and waste collection service. Except for education of household head, all these factors significantly influence the maximum amount of money households are willing to pay. Concerned stakeholders and policy makers should consider these traits of households before enforcing a waste collection fee.

Status of Household Solid Waste Management and Associated Factors in a Slum Community in Kampala, Uganda

“…So, these households were possibly disposing their waste indiscriminately. On the contrary, studies carried out in Nepal, Nigeria, India, and Ethiopia showed that urban households were willing to pay more for proper waste management [32][33][34][35][36]. Indeed, urban residents in Nepal, Nigeria, and Ethiopia where urban residents were paying 0.74, 2, and 1.07 USDs, respectively, for waste collection [33,34,36].…”

Household perception and willingness to pay for improved waste management service in Mamfe, Cameroon

“…Thus, an increase in household"s income does not necessarily increase the WTP for a better waste management service. This is contrary to economics theory which postulates that higher income households have a greater demand for waste management and are more willing to pay for it (Hagos et al, 2012;Maskey and Singh, 2017). The coefficient of the variable type of employment is negative and significant with WTP.…”

“…The coefficient of household income is negative and significant; implying that increase in household"s income does not necessarily increase the amount residents are WTP for a better waste management service. This is contrary to economics theory which postulates that higher income households have a greater demand for waste management and are more willing to pay for it (Hagos et al, 2012;Maskey and Singh, 2017).…”

“…There is a general agreement in environmental economics literature on the positive relationship between income and demand for improvement in environmental quality (Afroz et al, 2009). There are many studies which have found that income is positively significantly related to the WTP for improved SWM services (Padi et al, 2015;Maskey and Singh, 2017). Therefore, we expected the income to affect the willingness to pay and its amount positively.…”

Community Attitude, Perception and Willingness Towards Solid Waste Management in Malaysia, Case Study

“…It is crucial for the society to have positive willingness and participation towards SWM practices [17]. In the study investigated by a researcher, mentioned that SWM could be influenced if the willingness to pay by the people is not managed properly [18]. Similarly, they stated that accessibility of the location need to be focused on in order to provide good SWM services.…”