Households’ preferences for improved solid waste management options in Aksum city, North Ethiopia: An application of choice modelling

Abstract The non-market welfare gain from different improved solid waste management options for households in Aksum city, Ethiopia, was estimated using choice modelling. The proposed improvements in solid waste management were presented by three service attributes (i.e. frequency of waste collection, waste disposal mechanism, and mode of transport used to transport waste) along with a monetary attribute (monthly charges of households for the service rendered). For the purpose of the survey, 150 dwellers of the town were randomly selected. Two multinomial logit models were used for the estimations. In both models, the coefficients of the attributes are significant and with the priori expected signs. Except for the gender of the respondent, family size and monthly income of the households, all included variables significantly affect utilities of the respondents. Implicit prices were calculated and found 4.6, 1.7 and 2.5 Birr for the frequency of waste collection, waste disposal mechanismand mode of transportation, respectively, for the extended model. The trade-offs between the non-monetary attributes were also calculated. Analogous results were found for the two models, and frequency of waste collection ranked top in terms of relative importance to households. Finally, the various hypothetical scenarios support that the dwellers of the town are willing to pay for improvements in the existing solid waste management activities.