Determinants of willingness to pay for solid waste management in Gweru city, Zimbabwe.

Abstract

Many policies and frameworks in developing countries are directed at waste management. With increased rural to urban migration, most municipalities are faced with increased improper disposal of solid waste and one of the major constraints is limited financial capacity of local municipalities. The increasing financial challenges for waste management have prompted researchers to pay close attention to the demand side of the problem. This study seeks to analyse the determinants of household willingness to pay for improved residential solid waste management in Gweru.An open ended contingent valuation method was used to elicit household’s willingness to pay and a binary logit model was used to account for the factors influencing the respondent’s Willingness to Pay. The results from the study indicated that monthly average expenditure which is a proxy of household income, highest level of education and the age of household head are important determinants of household willingness to pay for solid waste management. The other variables were not statistically and significantly associated with the willingness to pay for waste management. The findings from this study indicate there is greater chance of success in solid waste management if there is the possibility of cost sharing.