Solid Waste Management Services in Lilongwe: Demand and Supply Considerations

SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT SERVICES IN LILONGWE: DEMAND AND SUPPLY CONSIDERATIONS

Proposed paper abstract, ISEE 2004 conference

Benjamin Mattondo Banda, Chancellor College, University of Malawi

ABSTRACT

This study is mainly based on household participation in a survey asking individual households to rank a set of waste management alternatives consisting three options; a charge per bin arrangement, a free service requiring sorting waste and recycling efforts by households, and a neighbourhood sanitation fund contribution with a communal refuse bank/skips.

Following demographic characteristics, household survey data collected in 9 relatively high-density areas of Lilongwe City are used to calibrate a Multinomial Logit Model, assuming a random utility technology. Area of residence is found to be a significant contributor to the probability of choosing any one of the proposed waste management techniques, and this result is consistent with the income distribution strata of the city. Households in low-income areas generally favour a community solution to waste management problems while high-income households favour a direct charge per unit of waste disposed.

Presently, the city assembly provides waste management service at no fee to selected residential and commercial areas. The study shows that unless incomes are increased, low-income households will not benefit from the present practice of funding waste collection service from property taxes, which currently confine the service to high-income areas. On the other hand, introduction of waste management charges will have the greatest impact on the assembly’s budget if the charges are sensitive to the low income previously unlisted neighbourhoods.