Abstract

Although in Italy the public-private dichotomy in waste management service has been widely analysed, some limitations, including the size of the sample used, have prevented reaching an unambiguous conclusion on which is the best choice for service delivery. In this article, a metafrontier dea model with six non-discretionary inputs was applied to a sample of 804 Italian municipalities that reached 65% of separate waste collection in 2018, as indicated in the Italian Environment Consolidation Act (Testo Unico Ambientale). The results show that in municipalities with less than 15,000 inhabitants, public management is more efficient. As population increases, the best choice is mixed management. Conversely, the least efficient municipalities are those with private management.