Assessing the Potential for an Improved Solid Waste Collection in Kalmunai, Sri Lanka: An Analysis of Willingness to Pay

Abstract

Rapid population growth and increase of economic activities combined with a lack of training in modern solid waste management practices complicate the efforts to improve the solid waste services. Poor waste management has led to indiscrimin ate dumping of solid waste into open spaces and drainages, blocking drains and causing flooding, environment pollution and public health issues. Collecting fees from the public can support finance for improving waste management service. This study intended to evaluate willingness to pay (WTP) of households for improved solid waste collection service in two selected zones of Kalmunai municipal council area. The survey covered 140 households using a stratified simple random sampling method from two selected zones. This study used a contingent valuation method to elicit households’ WTP and multiple linear regression models to determine factors influencing WTP. The household willingness to pay was significantly affected by gender, education, average income, householder’s concern about environment and cost of collecting 1 kg of waste. Gender and education were statistically significant at p<0.05, average income and cost of collecting 1kg of waste were statistically significant at p<0.1 and householder’s concern about environment was statistically significant at p<0.01. The results of this study show that the mean willingness to pay of households to organic/kitchen waste and plastic/paper waste was LKR 2.8/kg and LKR 2.63/kg, respectively.