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.