• HOUSEHOLDS’ WILLINGNESS TO PAY FOR SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT SERVICES IN TARKWA AREA COUNCIL, GHANA

Abstract

The willingness to pay for solid waste management services was assessed in Tarkwa Area Council, Ghana, to determine the factors influencing it. Five (5) suburbs, namely Cyanide, Government Hill, Kamponasi, Market Circle and Tamso were purposively selected and two hundred and sixty-five (265) household heads were interviewed from randomly selected houses using a questionnaire. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and logistic regression model. By employing the logistic regression model, it was found that respondents’ sex, educational level, mode of collection and monthly willingness to pay potential among other variables were statistically insignificant. However, parameters like age, satisfaction, desire for better solid waste management services and whether respondents pay for the current solid waste management services had significant effect on willingness to pay. Based on this, it is recommended that programmes that will enable potential investors in solid waste collection, management and appropriate disposal be introduced whilst payment for this service should be made affordable to encourage households that are willing to pay.