The Economics of Solid Waste Management:The Case of Kampala, Uganda

In her PhD research project,the author intends to investigate the effects of economic and demographic growth to Kampala city management. With rapidly swelling urban population, the requirement for infrastructure and services increase manifold. Solid waste management is one such service that needs to be adequately provided to ensure an urban environment conducive to the well-being and productivity of the residents. The study therefore undertakes a case study to investigate the economics of solid waste management of the Kampala City

The economic and demographic growth of cities in Uganda like other cities in the developing world is posing serious challenges to the urban local authorities. With rapidly swelling urban population, the requirement for infrastructure and services increase manifold. Solid waste management is one such service that needs to be adequately provided to ensure an urban environment conducive to the well-being and productivity of the residents. Some communities in Kampala receive little (in some cases no) solid waste collection services because local governments have no resources to cover all households. Thus in the absence of collection services, households use forms of disposal most of which are heavily polluting. There is also lack of information on household solid waste generation, and how much households value solid waste management. This study therefore aims at identifying the determinants of solid waste generation at household level and the determination of households’ willingness to pay for improved solid waste management services. Willingness to pay (WTP) is estimated using a double-bounded format of Contingent Valuation Method (CVM). Preliminary results show that over 75% of the households are willing to pay for improved solid waste management services and the estimated Mean WTP is UGX.2014 per month. We also find that household’s income, age of respondent, education and past involvement in paying for waste management influence both the decision to pay and the amount to be paid while gender does not influence the decision to pay but influences the amount to be paid for improved solid waste management services. We also find that per capita solid waste generation at household level is driven by household income, household size, and payment for waste disposal services.