Influence of Levels of Awareness, Willingness to Pay, and Incentives on Solid Waste Management Practices by Commercial Enterprises in Kakamega Town

Globally, there has been an increase in population that has led to increased urbanization and change in consumption patterns. This has led to an increase in solid waste generation. Commercial enterprises have also increased exponentially, which has resulted in an increase in solid waste generation worldwide and Kakamega town. This study sought to analyse the influence of the levels of awareness, willingness to pay, and incentives on solid waste collection, transportation, and disposal by commercial enterprises in Kakamega town. A cross-sectional research design was employed. A minimum sample size of 300 commercial enterprises was drawn from a study population of 1,372 commercial enterprises using Taro Yamen formula. Simple random sampling was used to identify the commercial enterprises within the study area. Purposive sampling was used to identify key informants such as the Town Manager and the Director of the environment who were interviewed. Primary data were collected through structured questionnaires administered to the commercial enterprises, interview schedules for key informants, focused group discussions, and photography. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics: percentages, frequencies, means, graphs, and pier chats. Qualitative data were analysed thematically along with the research objectives and presented in narrative form. Spearman’s rank correlation was used to determine the relationship between the dependent variables as explained by the independent variables in the study; Levels of awareness, willingness to pay, incentives. The analysed findings were presented inform of tables, figures, and plates. Results shows that the awareness levels on solid waste transportation and disposal were extremely high at r=0.882, compared to the collection at r=0.375. Thus, the frequency of solid waste collection could not influence the frequency of solid waste transportation and disposal. Provision of incentives such as reduced charges, provision of defined transfer point, provision of waste holding bins were extremely high thus influencing the solid waste management practices by the commercial enterprises at r=0.830. Most of the commercial enterprises were willing to pay for solid waste management to the municipal council at 64%. Using the results, the County Government of Kakamega can incorporate all the waste generators in the solid waste management hierarchy thus improving on solid waste management practices and converting the waste into cash.