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.