A choice experiment of the residential preference of waste management services – The example of Kagoshima city, Japan

Municipal governments have attempted to reduce waste disposal and increase recycling rates in Japan. However, it is difficult to get full cooperation from residents. Using experiments in which residents are given an opportunity to choose the components of the waste management system (choice experiments), we measure the cost of each characteristic of the waste collection services. The estimation result reveals that there are trade-offs between the risk, payments, and handling costs. The marginal loss in utility revenues from an increase in the types of waste being separated is almost 200 yen (US$ 1.74) and a 1% increase in the recycling rate raises the cost of service by 53 yen (US$ 0.46). In addition, the results show the need for communications about risks between municipal authorities and residents.