Evaluating joint environmental and cost performance in municipal waste management systems through data envelopment analysis: Scale effects and policy implications

Sarra, Alessandro; Mazzocchitti, Marialisa; Rapposelli, Agnese

doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2016.10.035

Cited by 102 publications

(63 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…According to [26], for each unit (a municipality in this study), a linear program has to be solved to calculate its efficiency score (see Equation 3). Based on previous studies (e.g., [12,21]), an input orientation assuming variable returns to scale was employed. It should be noted that municipalities cannot directly control the amount of MSW that is generated; therefore, the input orientation is more adequate.…”

Section: Efficiency and Eco-efficiency Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To apply the non-parametric approach, the evaluated municipalities were grouped according to the external factors that could affect their performance, based on previous studies [12,19,21]. Subsequently, the non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis test was employed in which the null hypothesis tested was that the K samples are derived from the same population.…”

Section: Factors Affecting the Efficiency And Eco-efficiency Differencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To select the exogenous variables that might affect the efficiency and eco-efficiency differences, three criteria were considered: (i) the characteristics of the MSW sector in Chile, (ii) the information available for the evaluated municipalities and (iii) the existing literature [12,21,35]. According to these criteria, the following variables were considered: (i) the urban population, which was defined as the total number of people living in cities with MSW services; (ii) the size of the municipality, expressed in km 2 .…”

Section: Sample Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous studies by [12,18,21] have investigated the external factors affecting the ecoefficiency of municipalities in the provision of MSW services. Taking into account the main objective of this study, i.e., evaluating the impact of selective collection and recycling on the performance of MSW service providers, we focused on assessing the impact of exogenous variables on the difference of the efficiency and eco-efficiency scores measured as a relative difference (Equation 8).…”

Section: Factors Affecting Differences Between the Efficiency And Ecomentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In order to develop public policies in the context of the circular economy, it is important to assess both the efficiency and the eco-efficiency. According to the literature [12,19,[21][22][23][24] , some external factors to the management of MSW services carried out by municipalities, such as population density, age range, geographical characteristics, amount of waste generated, socioeconomic level, size of the community, among others, have an impact on the performance (efficiency) of the provision of municipal waste services. However, since there are no studies comparing the metrics of efficiency and ecoefficiency in the provision of MSW services, there is no information about the impact of external factors on the differences between these two metrics.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

et al. 2021

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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.

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Section: Efficiency and Eco-efficiency Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Factors Affecting the Efficiency And Eco-efficiency Differencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Sample Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Factors Affecting Differences Between the Efficiency And Ecomentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

et al. 2021

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Environmental commitment, sustainable development, and regional efficiency in waste collection activities

Alberca,

Parte

2023

Sustainable Development

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Waste management industry is key to achieve environmental commitment, clean production, and Circular business models; as well as to promote sustainable development. The aim of this study is to contribute to the Circular Economy measuring business performance and firm efficiency of waste collection activities and their determinants, with emphasis on sustainable development and environmental challenges. The main research goals of this study are as follows: first, to examine firm efficiency scores in waste collection activity (dangerous and non‐dangerous waste); second, to analyze the main fluctuation patterns of business efficiency; third, to evaluate the differences in the average efficiency according to region; finally, to examine the relationship between efficiency score and environmental challenges (investment in environmental protection and COVID‐19 pandemic impact). The efficiency of firms is estimated using non‐parametric production frontiers in a sample of 5441 observations for the period 2010–2020. We used several non‐parametric tests, such as the Mann–Whitney U test and the Kruskal–Wallis test; as well as several regression models (Tobit and bootstrapping regressions) to test the relationship between efficiency scores and environmental variables. The main findings of this study provide new empirical evidence and go a step further, not only at the firm level, but also at the regional level.

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Estimating the eco‐efficiency of urban waste services towards sustainable waste management

Molinos‐Senante,

Maziotis,

Sala‐Garrido

2024

Sustainable Development

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Assessing the eco‐efficiency of municipalities regarding the provision of solid waste services is a useful tool for improving its sustainability. However, robust, and reliable methods are needed to benchmark the performance of municipalities. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) methods typically used to assess the eco‐efficiency of municipal solid waste (MSW) service providers. However, the variables used in the eco‐efficiency assessment bear distinct weights for each individual unit, limiting thus interpretation. Therefore, benchmarking the performance of MSW service providers becomes challenging because different conditions are applied. Thus, this study uses a common set weights DEA (DEA‐CSW) model assess the eco‐efficiency of different municipalities in providing MSW services. Eco‐efficiency scores were estimated by integrating total costs, recycled waste and unsorted waste as input, desirable outputs and undesirable outputs, respectively. The empirical application of the model demonstrated that when using DEA‐CSW, only one municipality (out of 36) was eco‐efficient in managing MSW. The weightings for inputs and outputs were allocated based on the degree of satisfaction estimated for each municipality. Satisfaction ranged from 0.829 to 1.000 indicating that none of the municipalities were heavily penalized based on the eco‐efficiency scores estimation when allocating common weights. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that compared to traditional DEA models, the DEA‐CSW approach is more adequate at benchmarking the performance of municipalities regarding the provision of MSW services.

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Evaluating joint environmental and cost performance in municipal waste management systems through data envelopment analysis: Scale effects and policy implications

Cited by 102 publications

References 32 publications

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

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

Environmental commitment, sustainable development, and regional efficiency in waste collection activities

Estimating the eco‐efficiency of urban waste services towards sustainable waste management

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