Optimizing Waste Management and Reducing Methane Emission in Hyderabad

Last registered on June 22, 2026
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Optimizing Waste Management and Reducing Methane Emission in Hyderabad
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0018923
Initial registration date
June 15, 2026

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
June 22, 2026, 6:38 AM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country
India
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Jun Wong
Affiliation
University of Chicago
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Ashton Pallottini
PI Affiliation
University of Chicago
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Emma Zhang
PI Affiliation
University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2026-06-18
End date
2026-09-30
Keywords
Environment & Energy, Governance
Additional Keywords
Methane, waste segregation, informal waste workers
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Organic waste in landfills are a major source of methane, a potent natural gas with 80-times the short-term global warming potential of carbon dioxide. Reducing methane emission from landfills requires the segregation of organic waste. Common policies that aims to divert organic waste are hard to replicate in developing settings because waste collection is done by informal private waste collectors. This pilot study plans to evaluate the effect of performance pay and fixed pay for informal waste collectors can improve waste segregation rates.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Pallottini, Ashton, Jun Wong and Emma Zhang. 2026. "Optimizing Waste Management and Reducing Methane Emission in Hyderabad." AEA RCT Registry. June 22. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.18923-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention 1: Performance pay for waste collectors that is based on the weight of collected organic waste
Intervention 2: Fixed payment for waste collectors conditional on collecting organic waste
Intervention Start Date
2026-06-18
Intervention End Date
2026-08-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Total weight of collected wet waste, total weight of collected waste, fraction of wet waste to total waste
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Income from recyclables, working days, route coverage.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We randomize informal waste collectors (identified by their waste collection vehicle IDs) in our experimental sample into three groups: intervention 1, intervention 2, and a control group. Intervention 2 will be a smaller group than intervention 1.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer
Randomization Unit
We randomize at the waste vehicle level, where the sample of waste vehicles are grouped into matched pairs or triplets. The matching is done using characteristics of the vehicle’s routes and baseline level of waste collection.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
39 matched clusters
Sample size: planned number of observations
86 waste vehicles
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
39 in intervention 1
8 in intervention 2
39 in control

Since this is a pilot, we may shift the number of waste workers in each intervention
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Morsel Research and Development Private Limited
IRB Approval Date
2026-05-14
IRB Approval Number
MRD/140526/02
Analysis Plan