Factors affecting eco-efficiency of municipal waste services in Tuscan municipalities: An empirical investigation of different management models

Does gender affect environmentally virtuous behaviour? Evidence from selective waste collection

This research analyses the issue, unexplored to date, of the causal relationship between women politicians and selective waste collection. Differing attitudes towards environmental issues between men and women may affect waste management at the municipal level, so an increase in women's political representation can be expected to enhance the effectiveness of selective waste collection. The analysis tests for this in Italy, exploiting a gender quota measure (Law 215/2012) as an exogenous shock to the percentage of female municipal councilors. Difference-in-differences instrumental variable analysis finds that an increase of one standard deviation in the percentage of female councilors increases the percentage of selective waste collection by 2.18 percentage points and the total tonnage of selective waste by 447.86. At the same time it reduces the amount of non-selective waste collection by 491.22 tonnes. The study comprises a number of sensitivity analyses for different model specifications, different definitions of dependent variables, different size of municipalities and different geographical areas.

How have waste management policies impacted the flow of municipal waste? An empirical analysis of 14 European countries

Waste management policies aim to divert waste from lower positions on the waste hierarchy such as landfill and incineration to higher positions in the hierarchy such as energy recovery and recycling. However, empirical evaluations of such policies are scarce. This study highlighted the effect of waste management policies on the amount of waste treated with landfill, incineration, energy recovery and recycling by analysing a panel dataset consisting of 14 European countries and the period 1996 to 2018. Findings from a seemingly unrelated regression model suggest that the landfill ban is associated with a decrease in landfill waste, but an increase in incineration, energy recovery and recycling waste. The landfill tax is also correlated with an increase in energy recovery waste but, in contrast, it is associated with a reduction in incineration and recycling waste. Meanwhile, the deposit refund scheme is associated with a decrease in the amount of landfill waste. Concerning the effects on total waste generated, regression results from a fixed effects model indicate that the landfill tax and the deposit refund scheme are both correlated with a reduction in the amount of waste generated. These findings contribute to the scarce academic literature evaluating waste management policies and may better inform policy makers on their longer-term implications.

The eco-efficiency of municipalities in the recycling of solid waste: A stochastic semi-parametric envelopment of data approach

Eco-efficiency assessment of municipal solid waste (MSW) suppliers is a useful tool in the transition to a circular economy. Furthermore, it provides evidence of the economic and environmental performance of municipalities that can be used for decision-making and/or elaboration of regulatory policies. In this study, eco-efficiency scores were computed for a sample of 140 Chilean municipalities in the provision of MSW services. In doing so, the stochastic semi-parametric envelopment of data method was applied. It is a novel technique which overcomes the limitations of parametric (stochastic frontier analysis) and non-parametric (data envelopment analysis) methods previously employed to evaluate the eco-efficiency of MSW services. The average eco-efficiency of the 140 assessed municipalities was 0.332 which indicates that they could save 66.8% of their operational costs and recycling the same amount of waste. Moreover, 61.4% of the evaluated municipalities presented an eco-efficiency score which was lower than 0.4, whereas the other municipalities (38.6% of the sample) exhibited an eco-efficiency which raged between 0.4 and 0.80. Hence, none of the municipalities assessed was identified as eco-efficient which, implies that there is room for all municipalities to reduce operational costs in the management of MSW. Population density, tourism and location of the municipality were identified as factors influencing the eco-efficiency of the municipalities in MSW management.

Factors influencing eco-efficiency of municipal solid waste management in Chile: A double-bootstrap approach

Improving eco-efficiency in the provision of municipal solid waste plays an important role for a sustainable economy. Eco-efficiency of municipal solid waste service providers (MSWSPs) has been generally assessed using the conventional data envelopment analysis (DEA) method. However, this approach is sensitive to data noise and has no statistical properties. To overcome these limitations, in this paper, we adopt the double-bootstrap DEA model to derive robust eco-efficiency scores. This nonparametric method allows conducting statistical inference to explore environmental factors affecting the eco-efficiency of MSWSPs. The empirical approach focused on a sample of 298 MSWSPs in Chile, a middle-income country whose policies for promoting waste recycling are incipient. The results indicated that based on the bias-corrected eco-efficiency scores, the potential saving in costs and unsorted waste could be up to 37.8% on average to generate the same level of output (recycled waste). The findings showed that dealing with data noise and uncertainly is of great importance when conducting benchmarking analysis. The region where the municipality is located, tourism, population density and waste per capita are environmental variables that significantly influenced eco-efficiency of Chilean MSWSPs. Several policy implications are discussed based on the findings of this study.

A systematic and critical review of waste management in micro, small and medium-sized enterprises: future directions for theory and practice

Waste management (WM) has received increasing attention in recent years in micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). However, a comprehensive understanding of the WM research in MSMEs from different economic sectors is somehow absent in spite of its proliferation. The current review was conducted to indicate types of waste, hazards associated with waste, as well as strategies, antecedents (facilitators and barriers), and outcomes of WM in MSMEs from diverse economic sectors. The search was performed by using the Web of Science (WoS) database, which retrieves 420 articles. After excluding the papers that were not closely related to the topic, 84 articles were retained for an in-depth analysis, spanning a period of five years (from 2018 to June 2022). This review demonstrates that the types of waste generated from MSMEs include metals, plastics, chemicals, papers, wood, fabrics, stones, food, ceramics, glass, candles, and cooking oil, among others. It is also resulted that the hazards associated with waste include environmental pollution, CO2 emissions, human diseases, health disasters, and marine life destruction. Examples of the WM strategies in MSMEs research are recycling, separating, sorting, reusing, and composting waste. The findings revealed that a lack of financial resources, knowledge, experience, education, and training are some barriers encountered by MSMEs in WM. Enhancing financial performance, economic growth, competitive advantage, and sustainable development are important outcomes of WM in MSMEs. There has been a paucity of research on MSMEs WM, necessitating a thorough investigation of several issues. This research discusses implications and recommendations and presents avenues for future research. The current paper is one of the first studies to conduct a systematic review of WM in MSMEs from different economic sectors.

Monetary valuation of unsorted waste: A shadow price approach

Improving the management of municipal solid waste (MSW) is fundamental to promote circular economy and sustainability. Unsorted waste involves negative environmental impacts which often are ignored in economic feasibility studies due to its difficult valuation. In this study the shadow price of unsorted waste using the directional distance function was estimated. This methodological approach also allowed us to compute eco-efficiency scores of a set of municipalities in the provision of MSW services. The empirical application focused on a sample of 119 Chilean municipalities. The results showed that the average shadow price of unsorted waste was 297.66 €/ton which means that the environmental cost of left waste as unsorted was 297.66 € per ton. A regression tree model illustrated that population density, tourism intensity and the generation of waste per capita significantly influenced the shadow price of unsorted waste. Moreover, it was illustrated that Chilean municipalities were very inefficient in the management of MSW since the average eco-efficiency score was 0.272. The findings from this study reveal that additional and alternative policies should be adopted to improve the management of MSW and increase its recycling rate.

How much does it cost to collect recyclable and residual waste in medium-income countries? A case study in the Chilean waste sector

Improper municipal solid waste (MSW) management leads to contamination of water, soil and air with negative impacts on human health. Moreover, not dealing with residual waste has huge implications for meeting circular economy targets. Understanding how much it costs could lead to a better quality of service and boost environmental sustainability. This study estimates an input distance function using econometric techniques to measure the technical efficiency of the MSW sector in Chile. This approach further allows us to estimate the shadow price of residual waste in terms of total costs. The results indicated that the average technical efficiency of the waste sector was 0.592. This means that the potential savings in costs and residual waste among municipalities could be at the level of 40.8%. Large divergences among municipalities were found since efficiency scores ranged between 0.029 and 0.863. It is found that for 53% of the municipalities evaluated, efficiency scores varied between 0.61 and 0.80. On average, the cost of reducing residual waste was 81.10 US $ per kilogram. This means that on average the cost of preventing one more kilogram of residual waste not being collected and recycled was 81.10 US $. It was also found that on average as population density increased, the shadow price of residual waste increased as well.Implications: The study provides a methodology that allows the policy makers to estimate the efficiency of the solid waste sector where limited available statistical data usually exists in developing and medium-income countries. They have the opportunity to understand what drives costs and identify the best and worst performers. This information is essential to develop local initiatives to enhance waste recycling and therefore, achieving the targets established at national level. Managers can also see if there are other operating factors that could influence performance such as population density. The proposed methodology allows integrating other exogenous variables that might be interesting to policy makers. For instance, a tourism index could be included in the assessment to evaluate whether tourism impacts on the efficiency of municipalities in the provision of municipal solid waste services and therefore, to analyze the implementation of an eco-tax for tourists.

Institutional factors determining costs of municipal waste management in the Czech Republic

This paper analyses the role of selected institutional factors on the costs of waste management in the Czech Republic, a country with extreme territorial fragmentation. The analysis is based on two original datasets from 2,065 municipalities. A model is constructed which determines the relevance of selected factors with respect to the unit cost of waste management service and also highlights the differences between 2014 and 2019. The results are, largely extent, similar to the findings of existing international research related to this topic, but with some specificities. Our data show a significant effect of contracting out on cost reduction and a statistically insignificant effect of public mode of production on unit costs. They also suggest that intermunicipal cooperation has a cost-reducing effect, but public-private partnerships, increased market concentration and the provision by multinationals have a cost-increasing effect. The impact of economies of scale on cost reduction is somehow visible but cannot be confirmed, especially for larger scale territories. The data also suggest a possible beginning of a process of remunicipalisation, but the time series is insufficient to demonstrate this trend.

Performance and its determinants in the Portuguese municipal solid waste utilities

The unprecedented population increase brings several consequences to the environment, including the rise of urbanization levels and municipal solid waste (MSW) production - one expects that it may reach 3.4 billion tons per year by 2050. This paper contributes to the debate of efficiency measurement of MSW utilities management using the Portuguese case study. Our objectives are twofold. First, we assess the efficiency levels of municipalities in MSW collection through the Data Envelopment Analysis model, choosing total costs, staff, and vehicles as inputs, and the quantity of MSW collected (selective and refuse waste) as outputs. The efficiency results point to an average inefficiency level of about 35% and potential cost savings of over €96 million yearly. Second, by using a set of fifteen performance indicators monitored by the regulatory agency, we evaluate their relationship with the efficiency of MSW utilities, through the order-m model. Our results suggest that, in opposition to the management model, the rural/urban nature of councils helps explain part of the inefficiency. In general, the conditional-to-unconditional efficiency ratios reached values statistically different from 1, meaning that those indicators help explaining their efficiency distribution and the benchmarks profile, and need to be considered in future performance analyses. Remarkable and influential indicators include the accessibility to the service (average ratio = 0.95), the recycling rate (0.94), the monetization of the vehicle fleet (0.92), the pollution resulting from greenhouse gas emissions of waste collection vehicles (0.81), and council size measured by the population or the number of households (0.47).

The factors affecting Italian provinces' separate waste-collection rates: An empirical investigation

This paper investigates the factors affecting Italian provinces' separate collection rates from 2007 to 2016, as these rates are relevant environmental performance indicators in urban waste management. We observe data spanning this decade from 103 Italian provinces and use panel data regressions to explore if and how some relevant socio-economic factors-including convictions for crimes committed against the public administration and many indicators of equitable and sustainable well-being that describe the quality of life in Italy-significantly affect provinces' capability to reach European and national regulators' separate collection rate targets. The results reveal that the greater the prosecuted crime committed against the public administration, average income, expected age, number of people with a diploma or a degree, and the percentage of female municipal administrators, the greater the separate waste collection rate. In contrast, the greater the number of household members, youth employment rate, total waste produced per capita, and the recourse for landfills, the lower the separate waste collection rate. These results highlight for policy-makers and waste utility managers the need to implement different strategies to increase the ability to meet expected targets and increase environmental performance, and thus, further increasing the quality of life.

Factors influencing performance in municipal solid waste management - A case study of Czech municipalities

The study presents research focused on factors influencing performance in municipal solid waste management (MSWM) at the level of individual municipalities in the Czech Republic. Czech municipalities possess a specific municipal structure that is characteristic of high fragmentation, in which municipalities spatially resemble conglomerates. In spite of their typically small size, they cling to their own independence and are thus willing to assume full responsibilities in MSWM. In recognition that expenditure on MSWM is the primary concern to municipalities and that there are secondary environmental interests in waste separation, four alternative models of waste management service production are considered for a sample of 470 Czech municipalities that capture performance from different standpoints. Performance in MSWM is assessed by dint of data envelopment analysis (DEA). Full frontiers are employed simultaneously with order-m partial frontiers and resulting unconditional-to-conditional scores are investigated for the influence of twelve contextual factors describing operating conditions of MSWM. The analysis accounts for the fact that in this case the twelve contextual factors are found non-separable from the process underpinning the provision of MSWM. It is revealed that performance in MSWM improves with the availability of recycling consolidation facilities, but programs inciting waste separation or green waste collection do not bring about the anticipated effect. The findings are instrumental in planning of MSWM and equip municipalities with policy advice that is useful in improving performance in MSWM and subsequently in reaching ever stricter environmental targets requested over time at both national and international levels translated to a municipal level.

Eco-efficiency in China's Loess Plateau Region and its influencing factors: a data envelopment analysis from both static and dynamic perspectives

China's Loess Plateau Region (LPR) plays a significant role in national ecological security and development. Due to the advantage that relates environment with economy, eco-efficiency has become an important indicator of sustainable analysis. Using cross-level panel data for the period 2006-2017, this paper studied LPR's static eco-efficiency and dynamic performance through a combined application of DEA super-efficient slack-based measure and Malmquist Productivity Index at multi-scales. LPR's eco-efficiency was found to experience a slight increase during the study period. The value decreased roughly from east to west, with high eco-efficiency mainly distributed in provincial cities and resource-based cities. The decomposition of the Malmquist Index indicated that technological change contributed most to the improvement of eco-efficiency in the LPR. Besides, this paper explained the variations of eco-efficiency based on the integrated input-output indicators and TOBIT regression model. Economic scale, population density, government regulation, technical innovation, and openness degree were identified as positive influencing factors, while the structure of the industry and land-use intensity were found to have negative impacts on eco-efficiency. Resource-based cities were found to have stronger potentials for eco-efficiency improvement than non-resource-based cities. This paper revealed the characteristics of LPR's eco-efficiency from three perspectives: a spatiotemporal perspective, a macro-meso-micro perspective, and a static-dynamic perspective. The findings of this study hold important implications for policy makers.

Eco-Productivity Analysis of the Municipal Solid Waste Service in the Apulia Region from 2010 to 2017

This paper presents a dynamic efficiency study of the solid waste management in the municipalities of the Apulia region (Southern Italy). The study employs the non-parametric Global Malmquist Index to measure the change in productivity of the municipal solid waste service from 2010 to 2017. Three different DEA-based models are implemented to measure productivity. The first model computes the service productivity solely from the economic perspective, while the second and third models compute the service productivity from both the economic and environmental perspectives. Adopting two distinct perspectives provides a more comprehensive insight into the performance of the waste management service considering the productivity and the eco-productivity of service provision. The results from the productivity analysis show that, between 2010 and 2017, the municipal solid waste sector was still facing a transitional period characterized by low cost-efficiency and productivity growth measurements. Vice versa, the efficiency and productivity indicators improve when the analysis is performed accounting for the environmental impact. Indeed, both the eco-efficiency and eco-productivity measures increase from 2010 to 2017. Findings demonstrate the critical importance to include environmental indicators in the efficiency and productivity analysis.

The selective collection of municipal solid waste and other factors determining cost efficiency. An analysis of service provision by spanish municipalities

In recent years, concerns about the increasing generation of municipal solid waste, together with related health and environmental issues and regulatory changes, have motivated significant alterations in the provision of waste management services, such as the introduction of selective collection (by type of waste). However, these changes may impact on service costs and/or efficiency. The present study was undertaken to analyse the efficiency of the waste management service in Spain, using data from 283 municipalities for the period 2005-2015. The analysis consists of two phases: first, the application of panel data order-m frontiers, that allows to obtain a homogeneous estimation of efficiency based on the input-output relationship at the production process (Surroca et al., 2016), and second, the use of bootstrapped truncated regression, considering different municipal sizes. The results obtained show that cost efficiency is increased with selective collection and by certain political and socio-economic factors of the local governments, concretely with the government by a progressive party, coalition governments, a greater financial independence, a greater tourist and industrial activity and a greater proportion of women and of foreign-born residents in the municipality. We also show that municipal direct provision is the least efficient management form for this service. The main contribution made by this study is to examine the influence of different elements of service output (i.e., selection by type of waste vs. non-selection) on cost efficiency.

The efficiency of municipal solid waste collection in Mexico

Since the 1980's, some Mexican municipalities have subcontracted waste collection services to private companies, with an eye on increasing the efficiency of this service. However, the impact of private management on the Mexican waste sector performance has not been evaluated. In this study, the efficiency of waste collection in Mexico was analyzed to test the hypothesis that private companies are more efficient at waste collection than municipal governments. A two stage double bootstrap Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was applied to a sample of 1,626 municipalities. In the first stage, unbiased efficiency scores were calculated, and in the second stage, these scores were regressed against a set of environmental covariates which were thought to affect efficiency, including a dummy variable to identify the municipalities where waste is collected by a private company. Results suggest that private waste collection companies are more efficient than municipal governments. Other environmental variables such as population density, average household income, and tourism were also found to affect waste collection efficiency. The analysis also indicates that curbside collection is associated with a higher efficiency, while separate collection of waste is negatively correlated to efficiency.

Eco-efficiency assessment of municipal solid waste services: Influence of exogenous variables

Improving the eco-efficiency of municipalities in the provision of municipal solid waste (MSW) services is fundamental in the context of a circular economy. This study evaluates the eco-efficiency of a sample of Spanish municipalities, integrating the total cost as input, recyclable waste as desirable output, and unsorted waste as undesirable output. Following a pioneering approach, the weighted Russell directional distance model (a non-radial data envelopment analysis model) was employed, which allowed us to obtain a global inefficiency score and individual inefficiency scores for each variable integrated in the model. In the second stage of analysis, the potential factors affecting the previously computed inefficiency scores were investigated. The results indicated that one third of the municipalities evaluated were eco-efficient in the provision of MSW services with the total cost being the variable in which the municipalities exhibited the best performance. Moreover, the size of the municipalities, population served, population density, tourism, and availability of containers for separative collection of paper, glass, and plastic significantly affect the eco-efficiency of the municipalities. The findings of this study provide detailed information to support decision-making for the policy makers to improve the eco-efficiency of the municipalities in managing MSW.

The Cost of Reducing Municipal Unsorted Solid Waste: Evidence from Municipalities in Chile

The management of municipal solid waste sector is crucial for a sustainable circular economy. Waste utilities are expected to provide high quality solid waste services at an affordable price. The efficient management of solid waste requires its assessment from an economic and environmental perspective, i.e., eco-efficiency assessment. Although the reduction of unsorted waste incurs an economic cost, its positive externalities are huge for the well-being of society, the environment, and people. Our study quantifies the marginal cost of reducing any unsorted waste using stochastic frontier analysis techniques which allow us to estimate the eco-efficiency of the waste sector. Our empirical approach focuses on the municipal solid waste collection and recycling services provided by several waste utilities in Chile. The results indicate that substantial eco-inefficiency in the sector exists, since the average eco-efficiency score is roughly 0.5 which means that the municipalities could approximately halve their operational costs and unsorted waste to produce the same level of output. The average marginal cost of reducing unsorted waste is 32.28 Chilean pesos per ton, although notable differences are revealed among the waste utilities evaluated. The results provided by this study are of great interest to stakeholders to promote sustainable management solutions and resource efficient solid waste services.

Evaluation of economies of scale in eco-efficiency of municipal waste management: an empirical approach for Chile

In the circular economy context, improving the eco-efficiency of the management of municipal solid waste (MSW) occupies a prominent role. The aim of this study was to evaluate the eco-efficiency of MSW services provided by a sample of 142 Chilean municipalities using data envelopment analysis (DEA), a method that integrates both economic and environmental variables into a single performance index. This study also investigated whether the MSW facilities are affected by economies of scale. In a second stage of analysis, the effects of some exogenous variables on the eco-efficiency of MSW services were explored. The results demonstrated that 92.3% of the municipalities evaluated were not eco-efficient and presented notable room for improvement as the average eco-efficiency score was 0.58. In addition, 40.4% of the municipalities presented negative economies of scale; i.e. their operational size was not optimum and joint organization of MSW management systems should be promoted. Finally, the population served, population density, tourism and waste generated per capita were shown to have a significant impact on the eco-efficiency of MSW services. The results of this study will be beneficial for policymakers to formulate effective public policies to make the provision of MSW services more cost- and environmentally effective.

Influence of selected aspects of local governance on the efficiency of waste collection and street cleaning services

Currently, in all developed countries there is great interest in improving democratic practices in local governments, as the administration closest to citizens. However, the possible influence of these actions on the management of public services and municipal finances have been side-lined, despite the great interest in evaluating the performance of local governments under budgetary constraints. Our research aims to fill this knowledge gap by studying the impact of key aspects of local governance (transparency and citizen participation), together with other environmental variables, on the efficiency of two municipal public services of both qualitative and quantitative importance: waste collection and street cleaning. The results show that the type of management, population density, the tourist activity of the municipality and the strength of local government are determinants that explain the efficiency of the public services examined in this research, while transparency and citizen participation have little impact.

Evaluation of the Impact of Separative Collection and Recycling of Municipal Solid Waste on Performance: An Empirical Application for Chile

The collection of municipal solid waste (MSW) is a public service with notable effects on the environment and public health. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of selective collection and recycling of MSW on the performance of municipalities in providing MSW services. By employing the data envelopment analysis method, the efficiency and eco-efficiency scores for a sample of 298 municipalities in Chile were analyzed and compared. The efficiency estimation focused on the economic performance of the municipalities in the provision of MSW services, whereas the eco-efficiency assessment also integrated the environmental performance. The results indicated that the selective collection and recycling of MSW had a significant impact on the performance of the municipalities in providing these services. The percentages of efficient and eco-efficient municipalities were very low (4.70% and 4.36%, respectively), thus demonstrating the large room for performance improvement by Chilean municipalities in the management of MSW. The efficient and eco-efficient municipalities were heterogeneously distributed throughout the country, revealing the lack of collaboration between municipalities at the regional level. Finally, exogenous variables to the management of MSW carried out by the municipalities, including the population served, population density, tourism and waste generated per capita, all had an impact on the efficiency and eco-efficiency scores. The results and conclusions of this study are of great relevance for policy makers at the regional and local levels to improve the management of MSW in the context of a circular economy.

Waste services' performance assessment: The case of Tuscany, Italy

This paper assesses the performance of waste services in the region of Tuscany in Italy. It adopts non-parametric techniques for this purpose. Furthermore, it investigates the influence of the operational environment on the estimated performance by using the robust order-m technique. Meaningful levels of inefficiency were found in the Italian waste services. A specification of the ownership of the operator entrusted with waste management by municipalities and the formal adoption of the zero-waste strategy are included as environmental variables. The study concludes that the influence of the operational environment is a determinant of performance. The income per capita is negatively associated with efficiency, while population density is positively associated. Furthermore, efficiency levels are lower for municipalities with higher mixed waste per capita produced. Improving good pro-environmental behaviours is likely to improve efficiency and, thus, tariffs. The empirical results support the idea that it is necessary to make relevant organizational decisions that imply higher costs to increase the refuse collection rate. An increase in the separate collection rate beyond 50% is associated with the reduction of the efficiency level reached. Efficiency analysis does not consider the additional costs and the opportunities for municipalities to get revenues by selling them as secondary raw materials. Besides, the adoption of a zero-waste strategy is related to higher efficiency in MSW service provision. Finally, results about the ownership issue support the idea that privatization is not necessarily associated with the performance improvement of the waste services.