Willingness to pay for and economic feasibility of solid waste management in Cape Maclear, Malawi


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Date

2025-09

Publication Type

Journal Article

ETH Bibliography

yes

Citations

Scopus:
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Data

Abstract

Improving solid waste management (SWM) can better public health locally and mitigate climate change globally. However, it requires thorough financing and business models. This study assessed the willingness to pay (WTP) of four stakeholder groups in the village Cape Maclear, Malawi, using the double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation method as well as direct questions. Households (N 259) would be willing to pay an average of MWK 1507 (USD 0.90) per month if they did not have to separate their waste themselves, as opposed to MWK 899 (USD 0.54) per month if they had to separate their waste at the collection point. Lodges were willing to pay USD 13.00 per month for their own waste management and an additional USD 4.22 for public waste removal. The WTP of businesses was assumed to be zero due to an unrepresentative sample. Tourists were found to have an average WTP of USD 1.75 per day. We recommend a sustainable business model based on all cost and revenue streams of the system. Thereby, tourists show the greatest potential. Nevertheless, it is recommended to make the monthly operation of the system independent from external sources, but to use these sources for long-term investments and infrastructure improvements.

Publication status

published

Editor

Book title

Volume

27

Pages / Article No.

200281

Publisher

Elsevier

Event

Edition / version

Methods

Software

Geographic location

Date collected

Date created

Subject

solid waste management; waste collection; Willingness to Pay; Double-Bounded Dichotomous Contingent Valuation Method; Malawi; Sub-Saharan Africa

Organisational unit

09746 - Tilley, Elizabeth / Tilley, Elizabeth check_circle

Notes

Funding

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