Households’ willingness to pay for improved solid waste management service_ the case of Kasoa, Ghana

Abstract

Solid waste management is an integral component of sustainable development for any nation and prioritizing solid waste management is greatly supported as global initiative. This study investigated household Willingness to Pay (WTP) for improved Solid Waste Management (SWM) services in Kasoa. A cross-sectional survey design was employed for this study. Data was obtained from 276 households in six electoral areas within Kasoa. The study analysed households‘ Willingness to Pay and subsequently their Maximum Willingness to Pay for improved SWM service as well as the factors that influenced their Willingness to Pay. To elicit Willingness to Pay, an open-ended Contingent Valuation Model was employed for the data collection. Probit and Ordered Probit Models were used in the empirical analysis to determine the factors that influence Willingness to Pay and Maximum Willingness to Pay of households for improved SWM service respectively. The results revealed that 73.9% of respondents were willing to pay at a maximum fee of 15Ghc per month for improved SWM service. The outcome of the study shows that, age, average monthly income, collection frequency, employment status, level of education (tertiary), house ownership and service satisfaction were the factors that significantly influenced household‘s willingness and maximum willingness to pay for an improved SWM service. The study recommends that government and various stake holders should make efforts towards improving residents' income as willingness to pay relates positively to income. More so, a flat rate should not be charged across households since household Maximum Willingness to Pay values vary among households