The urban waste management sector represents a crucial area for the efficiency of local public services, with significant environmental, economic, and social implications. The reform introduced by Legislative Decree No. 201 of 23 December 2022 redefined the regulatory framework for local public services, with particular attention to the principles of efficiency, effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and sustainability, as well as the need to guarantee uniform essential performance levels across the national territory.

In this context, the analysis of the performance of municipal solid waste collection and transport services takes on strategic importance, as it makes it possible to evaluate the ability of operators – public and private – to transform resources into outputs, while at the same time ensuring service quality and cost sustainability.

This policy brief presents and comments on some results based on analyses carried out within the PODIUWM research project, which developed a geo-referenced municipal-level database (covering all Italian municipalities) designed for efficiency and productivity analyses concerning urban hygiene services.1 In particular, the discussion focuses on the distinction between public and private management of the service.

From a policy perspective, through a comparative examination of performance, the work aims to provide evidence useful for promoting policies oriented toward improving productive efficiency, reducing territorial disparities, and strengthening governance capacity in the urban waste sector.