Abstract
This study focused on how public preferences about choosing a siting plan for a waste disposal facility for wide area management were formed by communication between the local officials and the public. A meeting for discussion between the public and the local officials about a hypothetical siting plan for a waste disposal facility for wide area management was held in Iwate Prefecture. In the meeting, three choice experiments (CE) and information offering or discussions, including questions and answers, were conducted alternately. The results showed that information offering and questions and answers changed public preferences, promoting public acceptance about wide area management of waste and restraining public distrust against accepting industrial waste. This indicates that communication between the local officials and the public in choosing a siting plan for a waste disposal facility for wide area management plays an important role. Moreover, it indicates that public participation in choosing a siting plan for a waste disposal facility at the planning stages restrains public distrust and promotes consensus building.
