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

Assessing the dynamic performance of water companies through the lens of service quality

The measurement of performance within the water industry holds significant importance for policymakers, as it can help guide decision-making for future development and management initiatives. In this study, we apply data envelopment analysis (DEA) cross-efficiency techniques to evaluate the productivity change of the Chilean water industry during the years 2010-2018. Water leakage and unplanned interruptions are included in the analysis as quality of service variables. Moreover, we use cluster analysis and regression techniques to better understand what drives productivity change of water companies. The results indicate that the Chilean water industry is characterized by considerable high levels of inefficiency and low levels of productivity change. This is due to the existence of technical regress whereas gains in efficiency were small. Concessionary water companies were found to be more productive than full private and public water companies. Best and worst performers need to make efforts to reduce production costs and improve service quality. Other factors such as customer density and ownership type statistically affect productivity.

The impact of public awareness, infrastructure, and technological development with economic growth on solid waste management of European countries: does governance quality matters

Solid waste generation is a significant problem affecting the ecosystem, human health, and safety. However, the issue is not given the attention it truly deserves. Consequently, this study is aimed at assessing the impact of various factors, such as economic growth, public awareness, infrastructure, and technological advancements, on generating municipal waste in the European Union (EU) for the period 1995-2020. Furthermore, the study incorporated the mediating effect of economic growth and government effectiveness with public awareness, infrastructure, and technological development to reduce waste generation. By employing the bias-corrected method of moments, the study finds that overall waste generation does not decrease over time in EU economies. Furthermore, Denmark is the top-ranked country among the sampled countries to generate waste. However, Finland is at the top in government effectiveness. The empirical findings showed that economic growth is the significant reason for the increase in solid waste production. Additionally, the interaction effects of economic growth with public awareness, infrastructure, and technological development are positive. However, the individual impact of public awareness, infrastructure, and technological development is positive in reducing waste generation. Governance effectiveness is a significant tool to lower waste generation in European economies.

Hierarchy performance assessment of industrial solid waste utilization - tracking resource recycling and utilization centers in China

The massive production and accumulation of industrial solid waste (ISW) have led to environmental pollution and natural resource underutilization. China's efforts to build trial industrial waste resource utilization centers provide strong support for sustainable development. However, these centers and the factors driving ISW utilization have yet to be evaluated. This paper utilizes context-dependent data envelopment analysis models without explicit inputs (DEA-WEI) to evaluate the overall utilization performance of 48 industrial waste resource utilization centers in China from 2018 to 2020. It also builds a Tobit model to assess which indicators and waste types affect overall ISW utilization. The results show overall ISW utilization performance of centers in the sample has improved, with the average value falling from 1.7193 in 2018 to 1.5624 in 2020. However, there are clear regional performance gaps, with East China having the highest utilization performance (1.3113) while the Southwest had the lowest (2.2958). Finally, this paper proposes measures to improve the overall utilization of industrial waste resources based on an analysis of the factors driving solid waste utilization.

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.

Efficiency Evaluation of Chinese Provincial Industrial System Based on Network DEA Method

The operation process of the Chinese provincial industrial system consists of four stages, namely the production (P) stage, wastewater treatment (WWT) stage, solid waste treatment (SWT) stage, and sulfur dioxide treatment (SDT) stage. Based on this structure, a four-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) model is developed to evaluate the eco-efficiency, production efficiency, wastewater treatment efficiency, solid waste treatment efficiency, and sulfur dioxide treatment efficiency of provincial industrial systems in China, considering the undesirable output and variable returns to scale (VRS). Based on the objective data from 2011 to 2015, the following conclusions are drawn: Firstly, the eco-efficiency of the Chinese provincial industrial system has not been significantly improved during the study period, and the average eco-efficiency score is low, only 0.3805. Secondly, the reasons for the low eco-efficiency of the industrial system are different in the Eastern, Central, Western, and Northeastern regions. Thirdly, compared with the P stage, industrial WWT stage, and SWT stage, the efficiency of SDT stage is still relatively weak.