Civil and Environmental Research www.iiste.org ISSN 2224-5790 (Paper) ISSN 2225-0514 (Online) Vol.6, No.8, 2014 102 Solid Wastes Management and its Willingness to Pay in Mingora, Swat Muhammad Tariq*1 Muhammad Rashid2 1Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Peshawar, Pakistan. 2School of Pharmacy The University of Faisalabad, Faisalabad Pakistan. *E-mail of the corresponding author: muhammadtariq299@gmail.com Abstract Solid waste is one of the major environmental dilemmas of Pakistan which causes environmental degradation. There is no proper management system for the collection and disposal of solid wastes. The current study is design to highlight solid wastes and willingness to pay (WTP) for its management in Mingora Swat, Pakistan. The objective of the study is to identify factors effecting solid waste management (SWM) activities and to evaluate the relationship of income, house hold size and diseases with WTP for SWM. The study is based on primary and secondary data. The value of WTP is taken as dependent variable while income, house hold size and diseases are independent variables. Survey questionnaire incorporated the opinion of local people and Tehsil Municipal Administrators (TMA), about solid wastes as primary data. According to the current survey, the average household per day solid wastes is 1.55 Kg while the total solid wastes generated in Mingora are 45.59 Ton/day. The study found out that lack of resources and landfills, least government/community interest and lack of awareness are the main factors contributes to solid wastes mismanagement in Mingora Swat. The study also investigated that bank of river is used for disposal of solid wastes by the TMA while most people used near places as a storage for solid wastes. According to 85% of respondents, installation of solid wastes to energy plant is the most appropriate method for the management of solid wastes in Mingora Swat. According to the current survey 83% of the respondents are agree to pay for the improvement of solid wastes management system. About 44% of the respondents have willingness to pay 100 rupees per month for solid wastes management system. The statistical analysis shows 0.888 correlations between WTP and income per month. Key words: Solid wastes, Management of solid wastes, Willingness to Pay, Mingora Swat. 1. INTRODUCTION Any discarded material which comes from domestic, commercial and industrial sources and which can be used as a valuable raw material is called solid waste (Shaful and mansoor 2003). Solid waste can be defined as material that no longer has any value to the person who is responsible for it, and is not intended to be discharged through a pipe. It is generated by domestic, commercial, industrial, health care, agricultural and mineral extraction activities and accumulates in streets and public places. The words garbage, trash, refuse and rubbish are used to refer to some forms of solid waste. (Baig 2013). “Municipal solid waste” (MSW) is a term usually applied to a heterogeneous collection of wastes produced in urban areas, the nature of which varies from region to region. The characteristics and quantity of the solid waste generated in a region is not only a function of the living standard and lifestyle of the region's inhabitants, but also of the abundance and type of the region's natural resources (Luis et al. 2005). Improper solid waste management is one of the major causes of environmental degradation and cause hazards to human being and environment. Management of solid waste reduces or eliminates adverse impacts on the environment and human health and supports economic development and improved quality of life (UNEP 2005). Solid wastes management problems are growing in developing countries because of growing population (Ejaz and Sadiq 2012). According to the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency only 51-69% of the generated waste is collected and the rest remains in the streets or collection points (masood 2013). The municipalities in developing countries have no proper funds and resources to control the problem of solid wastes mismanagement on sustainable manner (Qadis 2006). It is estimated that presently, 56,000 tons per day of solid waste is generated in Pakistan. No weighing and disposal facilities are installed at any disposal sites. Open burning of waste is estimated from 51-69 % in Pakistan. Much of the uncollected waste poses serious risk to public health through clogging of drains, formation of stagnant ponds, and providing breeding ground for mosquitoes and flies with consequent risk of malaria and cholera (Baig 2013). The current study is conducted to assess the SWM system, WTP for better SWM and its impacts on health and environment in Mingora, Swat. Swat is an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtonkhva of Pakistan, located at 34⁰-40’ to 35⁰-55’ North Latitude and 72⁰-08’ to 74⁰-6’ East Longitude. It is one of the districts of KPK and is bounded by Chitral and Ghizer districts in the North, Kohistan and Shangla districts in the East, Buner district and Malakand protected area in the South and by the districts of Upper and Lower Dir in the West. Topographically, Swat is a mountainous region, located among the foothills of the Hindu Kush mountain range. This range runs in the general direction of North and South and has a varied elevation within the Swat area, beginning from 600 meters above sea level in the South and rising rapidly up towards the North, to around 6,000 meters above sea level. The Swat region, containing the meandering Swat River, is also home to lush green