THE EFFECTS OF LOCAL CULTURAL AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC FEATURES ON THE STRUCTURE OF SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: THE CASE OF THE PHILIPPINES AND VIETNAM

This paper investigates the effects of local socio-economic factors on the adoption
of various waste management technologies in the Philippines and Vietnam. Three sets of factors
have been selected. The first set of factors includes the economic situation of the community:
income, unemployment, and the housing density. The second set of factors includes the
availability of fees for waste management services, the nature of leadership, and the application
of the technology in other Asian countries. The third set of factors includes several perceptions
on the waste technology such as its appropriateness to the community, its usefulness in
improving waste management, potential dangers of the technology, and trust in the technology.
Respondents from the Philippines come from the local government units, government agencies,
corporate sector and the academe. The Vietnamese respondents are students and lecturers who
are involved in activities related to solid waste management.
While perceptions of respondents from both countries on income, unemployment, and
dwelling situation vary, there appear similarities in the preferences in the kind of waste
management technologies in the two countries. Generally in both countries, community members
pay for waste services and are willing to pay some contribution for a better waste management.
There is a general perception that leadership is essential in the adoption of advanced solid waste
management technologies and a strong trust on advanced technologies such as used in European
countries to improve solid waste management in the two countries. Adoption of these
technologies would be facilitated by examples of applications of such technologies in other
Asian countries. In both countries there seems to be optimism that segregation of wastes at
source into very specific fractions is a feasible option in their community.