Eco-efficiency approach in sustainable waste management: An uncertainty analysis for Chile

Municipalities require eco-efficiency in managing solid waste to enhance sustainability and achieve a circular economy. Despite the relevance of waste statistics, there is high data uncertainty, which limits attempts to benchmark eco-efficiency in this sector. To overcome this limitation, the data envelopment analysis tolerance method was used to evaluate the eco-efficiency of solid waste management for a sample of municipalities in Chile. For each municipality, a composite indicator embracing operational cost, recycled waste rates, and non-valorized waste rate was estimated. Data uncertainty was integrated in the assessment by simulating 729 scenarios for each municipality. Average eco-efficiency of the sample was 0.180, demonstrating the extremely poor performance of the municipalities in sustainable waste management. However, the eco-efficiency scores varied across municipalities, indicating differences in local capacity to develop and implement strategies for promoting circular economy. Large potential to improve eco-efficiency estimated in this study clearly shows that current solid waste management policies are not suitable for achieving circular economy objectives in Chile, thus alternative approaches should be adopted to enhance sustainable waste management.