Willingness to Pay for Improved Solid Waste Management in Major Residential Areas of Lahore, Pakistan

Abstract

The discarded material that no doesn’t add any value to the life can be referred to as solid waste. Handling of solid waste is one of the major problems that developing cities have to deal with. The increasing population and urbanization have changed the rate of generation of solid waste and its composition. Improper management and handling of solid waste results in harmful impacts on human health and on ecosystems as well. Present study was conducted in Shadman and Shahjamal which are two major residential areas of Lahore. The study was conducted to determine the present conditions of solid waste management in the selected areas and to estimate the willingness of the households to pay for improvement of solid waste management by a questionnaire survey. The research revealed that the current service of solid waste management in the area is improper and residents are willing to pay for improved SWM services. The survey suggested that majority of the respondents were willing to pay PKR 100-500 for improved SWM services therefore there is need for an up-gradation in the services. The statistical analysis showed that there was a direct relation between income level and WTP for improved SWM facilities.

Keywords: Solid waste management (SWM); Willingness to pay (WTP); Statistical Analysis; Lahore

DOI: 10.7176/RHSS/13-3-03

Publication date: February 28^th 2023