Willingness to pay for recycling so

Willingness to pay for recycling solid waste
We used the contingent valuation method (CVM) to quantify each household's WTP for recycling solid waste in
Macau. CVM is a type of stated-preference approach that employs a hypothetical market system to extract WTP or
willingness to accept for environmental goods15,16. CVM has become one of the most widely used valuation techniques
because of its flexibility and its ability to estimate total values.
Existing methods for estimating WTP include Continuous CVM (represented by open-ended questions) and
Discrete CVM (represented by Dichotomous Choice questions)(Zhen et al., 2011). In Continuous CVM, the
interviewees are free to answer the open-ended questions by filling out the maximum amount they are willing to pay;
also, it is easy for data analysis. The disadvantage is that it is sometimes difficult for the respondents to give the
appropriate answer when they don't have enough background information about the research object, or when they are
actually not sure the maximum amount they are able to offer when they have to do so (Loomis and Walsh, 1997). In
Discrete CVM, on the other hand, the respondents are required to show their willingness only by choosing either
Ā Yesā or Ā No,ā and they don't need to indicate the specific amount they are able to pay, thereby avoiding the
problem of inconsistency between the stated WTP and actual amount the respondent is willing or able to pay17.
To acquire the necessary data for both WTP and the associated specific amount to pay, we used the single-bound
Dichotomous CVM method. In the questionnaire, the interviewees were asked “Are you willing to pay for recycling
the solid waste in Macau?” The answer part included “Yes, I am” and “No, I am not,” and for those who agreed to
pay, the following value choices were given: 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, ≥100 MOP per month (1dollar≈8 MOP).