Efficiency of separate waste collection under regional policies: spatial stochastic frontier evidence from Italy

Separate waste collection (SWC) production plays a key role in waste management, necessitating active participation from both governments and households. This study aims to analyse the impact of regional environmental policies (direct effects) and neighbourhood influences (indirect effects) on households’ efficiency in SWC production. To achieve this, the study defines a household-level SWC production function that integrates regional environmental policies to assess their effects on household efficiency. The spatial stochastic frontier analysis is then applied to quarterly data from 2002Q1 to 2020Q1, covering Italian regions and sourced from official datasets (Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) and the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA)), using appropriate strategies to address potential endogeneity. The results reveal that household composition affects how time is allocated to SWC activities and highlight the positive impact of regional environmental policies on household efficiency.