Assessment of Waste Management Efficiency Using Subjective and Objective Indicators in 26 Major Chinese Cities

Abstract

Waste management (WM) is a complex social–ecological system that should be evaluated by socioeconomic and environmental indicators. A new waste separation strategy was implemented in China in 2017. Whether the high recycling target in this strategy is conducive to the sustainability of the WM system remains uncertain, and the effects of public satisfaction on WM efficiency should be further assessed. This research used data envelopment analysis and a Malmquist index to incorporate both objective and subjective indicators. The results showed that half of the selected cities achieved managerial efficiency and that WM efficiency improved substantially after the implementation of the new strategy. Geodetector analysis found that satisfaction was driven by economic factors and environmental impacts. Sensitivity analysis confirmed that food recycling rate positively affected WM efficiency, but with diminishing marginal returns. The influence of environmental emissions and resident satisfaction on WM efficiency both increased with the recycling rate. When the recycling rate rose more than 33%, environmental satisfaction exerted a stronger influence on WM efficiency than environmental emissions. The results indicated that the combined application of objective and subjective indicators is necessary to accurately reflect changes in WM efficiency. Efforts to improve WM efficiency in China should focus on cities with low and declining efficiency, and increasing resident satisfaction and reducing CO 2 emissions will be primary paths to achieve efficiency improvements in future.