Key Findings:

• There is widespread citizen awareness of SWAP among households in the study, and a relatively impressive 6.5% of all households in the panel dataset downloaded the app; that rose to 9.4% among households that received both the App and Report Treatments.
• High download rates did not translate into high usage rates among panel households, who were surveyed at endline. Less than 1% of surveyed households used the app to make a report, and the platform only received 29 total issues from households in the study. Of those 29 issues, 7 were resolved by the service provider.
• Data from the WasteTracker app indicates that app usage in the general population was higher than indicated from the panel dataset: 122 waste issues were reported on the app during the study period, with weekly opens of the app peaking at 650 users in June 2022.
• We find a large increase in the use of formal collection services and reduction in the use of illegal waste disposal methods from baseline to endline, but neither of the treatment arms had an observable effect that was greater than control group.
• The App and the Report Treatment both had a negative impact on households’ consideration of cleanliness when choosing their method of waste disposal. The App Treatment also had a negative impact on households’ consideration of the environment when disposing of waste.
• We find mixed evidence on the effect of the treatments on the frequency of waste collection. Those who received the App Treatment report significantly more frequent waste collection, while those who received the Report Treatment report significantly less frequent waste collection.
• Between baseline and endline, there is a general improvement in citizen attitudes toward waste issues. Those improvements were not, however, a result of either the App or Report Treatments.
• The App Treatment has a negative effect on citizen attitudes toward waste. Treated households are 6-7% less likely to agree that burning trash or dumping it on the road is disrespectful, and they are less likely to agree that waste disposal is an important issue and that one should not litter.
• Neither the App nor Report Treatments have any measurable impact on citizen perceptions of service satisfaction or the responsiveness of service providers in terms of the frequency of collection or improvements in the perceived quality of service.
• Between baseline and endline, there is a noteworthy increase in citizens’ willingness to pay for both home and neighborhood collection of waste. But neither the App nor Report treatments contributed to these positive trends. The App Treatment actually has a statistically significant negative effect on the willingness of households to pay for neighborhood collection. In other words, willingness to pay increased for all respondents over the study period, but increased at a slower rate among those receiving the App Treatment.
• We find that neither the App nor the Report Treatments have a statistically significant impact on village cleanliness as reported by citizens, village officials, or as measured in the observational survey.

See more details in Cambodia SWAP Final Evaluation Report