Toward a Sustainable Urban Future: What Motivates Willingness to Pay for Plastic Waste Management through Biodegradation in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Background: Current approaches to tackle plastic pollution have significant environmental drawbacks. Biodegradation offers an eco-friendly alternative. Although there is ample literature on the environmental impacts of plastic pollution, a gap exists in studies addressing perceptions and behavioural determinants of willingness to pay (WTP) for biodegradation to mitigate plastic pollution. Methods: This study employs the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) to estimate the willingness to pay (WTP) for a hypothetical programme focused on the “Biodegradation of plastic waste," and the binary logistic regression model to identify significant and dominant factors associated with the WTP. Results: The WTP estimate, from a sample size of 455, is found to be Bangladeshi taka (BDT) 100 (approximately $0.83) per month. Furthermore, people would have been more willing to pay if they had understood biodegradation, had higher education, resided in smaller households, had confidence in biodegradation as a pollution reduction tool, and felt that improved biodegradation was necessary. The marginal effects indicate that awareness and perceptions of plastic pollution management are the most influential factors in WTP. Conclusion: These findings underscore the significant influence of awareness on individuals' WTP. The estimated WTP derived from the CVM offers stakeholders valuable insights to foster a reduced plastic footprint.