%0 Journal Article
%T Urban Households' Willingness to Pay for Improved Solid Waste Disposal Services in Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana
%A Dadson Awunyo-Vitor
%A Shaibu Ishak
%A Godfred Seidu Jasaw
%J Urban Studies Research
%D 2013
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2013/659425
%X Solid waste management within Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly area continues to be a major challenge for the municipal assembly and one of the key issues is its financial constraints. This study was undertaken to examine households' willingness to pay for improved solid waste management services. A multistage sampling technique was employed to select six hundred respondents for the study. Logistic regression model was used to establish the determinants of willingness to pay for solid waste management whilst the Tobit model was used to evaluate the factors influencing the amount of money the households are willing to pay for improved solid waste management. The logistic model shows that income, age, number of children, quantity of waste generated, and education have significant effects on the willingness to pay, while the amount of money the households are willing to pay was influenced by their income, quantity of waste generated, education, house ownership, and number of children. Thus, the assembly can increase waste collection fees between GHC 3 and GHC 5.00. This would lead to improvement in the waste management within the metropolis. However, the additional charge should take into consideration location and income levels. 1. Introduction Waste is directly linked to human development, both technologically and socially. The composition of different wastes has varied over time and location, with industrial development and innovation being directly linked to waste materials. Some components of waste have economic value and can be recycled once correctly recovered. Humans generate a great deal of waste as a by-product of their existence. This is evidenced at dumping pits located in or around archaeological sites. Every task, from preparing a meal to manufacturing a computer, and so forth, is accompanied with production of waste material which cannot be used for other things and needs to be disposed of effectively. If not contained and handled appropriately, waste can balloon into a huge problem, as, for example, when garbage ends up in the open ocean where it can make animals and birds sick amongst others. Waste is sometimes a subjective concept, because items that some people discard may have value to others. It is widely recognized that waste materials are a valuable resource, whilst there is a debate as to how this value is best realized. Such concepts are colloquially expressed in the western culture by idioms like ¡°One man¡¯s trash is another man¡¯s treasure.¡± On the generation end, waste management agencies have placed an increasing focus on reducing
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/usr/2013/659425/