Towards more equity concerning quality of Urban Waste Management services in the context of cities

Abstract

An innovative combined evaluation approach is proposed in the present paper to deal with the issue of the performance measurement and comparison of Urban Waste Management (UWM) services in the context of cities. The ELECTRE III method is initially considered as tool able to execute a multi-criteria analysis aimed at ranking UWM systems based on their integration and sustainability levels. The latter are comprehensively evaluated via the recently developed “Wasteaware” Integrated and Sustainability Waste Management indicators framework, which takes into account physical components and governance aspects of UWM systems. Then, on the basis on ELECTRE III results, a practical gaps investigation is developed to comparatively highlight service weaknesses to be addressed to pursue more equity concerning integration and sustainability in the considered context. The issue is particularly relevant in light of the multi-dimensional nature and the substantial complexity of UWM systems, as well as for the high criticality level assumed by these systems in recent years. The proposed combined evaluation approach is applied to an empirical case which regards the UWM systems of the Optimal Territorial Ambit of Palermo (Sicily). In the considered context, results highlight how stakeholders' participation in decision-making activities represents a crucial factor to pursue shared and coordinated strategies in line with integration and sustainability principles. Moreover, seventeen measures involving operational, environmental, socio-economic as well as administrative waste management aspects are selected from a comprehensive list of measures aimed at waste management integration and sustainability, and then implemented in the investigated context. Through these measures, the resulting services criticalities can be evaluated and properly addressed, and new required processes can be designed.