Solid Wastes Management and its Willingness to Pay in Mingora, Swat

Abstract

Solid waste is one of the major environmental dilemmas of Pakistan which causes environmental degradation. There is no proper management system for the collection and disposal of solid wastes. The current study is design to highlight solid wastes and willingness to pay (WTP) for its management in Mingora Swat, Pakistan. The objective of the study is to identify factors effecting solid waste management (SWM) activities and to evaluate the relationship of income, house hold size and diseases with WTP for SWM. The study is based on primary and secondary data. The value of WTP is taken as dependent variable while income, house hold size and diseases are independent variables. Survey questionnaire incorporated the opinion of local people and Tehsil Municipal Administrators (TMA), about solid wastes as primary data. According to the current survey, the average household per day solid wastes is 1.55 Kg while the total solid wastes generated in Mingora are 45.59 Ton/day.  The study found out that lack of resources and landfills, least government/community interest and lack of awareness are the main factors contributes to solid wastes mismanagement in Mingora Swat.  The study also investigated that bank of river is used for disposal of solid wastes by the TMA while most people used near places as a storage for solid wastes. According to 85% of respondents, installation of solid wastes to energy plant is the most appropriate method for the management of solid wastes in Mingora Swat. According to the current survey 83% of the respondents are agree to pay for the improvement of solid wastes management system. About 44% of the respondents have willingness to pay 100 rupees per month for solid wastes management system. The statistical analysis shows 0.888 correlations between WTP and income per month.

Key words: Solid wastes, Management of solid wastes, Willingness to Pay, Mingora Swat.