Efficient Market Structure of the Portuguese Municipal Solid Waste Sector

This study seeks to estimate economies of scale and scope in collection, disposal, and recycling for Portuguese municipal solid waste management operators.

Download the Master Thesis. Author: David Pfeffer

To do so, it analyses the cost and production structure of the Portuguese municipal solid waste management sector in light of the expected sustainability transformation.

Cobb-Douglas and Translog production functions are estimated using a panel data set covering the full set of 250 downstream operators over the period 2016-2020. Results hint at increasing returns to scale in waste collection.

Subsample regressions suggest that in particular rural operators do not operate at optimal scale.

Furthermore, for a panel of 11 upstream operators over the period 2013-2020, a Cobb-Douglas cost function is specified that takes into account the multi-output structure of upstream services.

Estimation results hint at cost savings arising from the joint provision of mixed and separate waste management services.