Contingent valuation method applied to waste management

•The Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) was applied to the selective waste collection.•The survey was conducted by email.•There are few studies applying the CVM to waste management in Europe.•It highlights the costs and benefits of the packaging waste system in Portugal.

This study focus on the application of the contingent valuation method to the municipal packaging waste selective collection. The Dichotomous Choice Single Bounded was the elicitation method chosen where a monthly payment, from a set of seven monthly payments, was proposed. In order to assess the willingness to pay (WTP) for the service, a survey was administered to a sample of 1186 individuals. Respondents were questioned about their current recycling and socio-demographic characteristics and if they were willing to pay the amount proposed for a more sustainable selective waste collection service. The high number of “Protest answers” led to two different sample analysis. The Turnbull estimator was used to estimate the mean WTP and the values obtained range between 1.56 and 2.84 euros. Regarding the logit models, the mean WTP values were −1.35 and 3.16 euros, depending on whether or not protest answers were included. The results were consistent with a WTP of 2.54 euros obtained in a Pre-Study conducted to a sample of 162 individuals where the elicitation method of payment card was used.