Municipal waste treatment efficiency in 29 OECD countries using three-stage Bootstrap-DEA model

Rapid urbanization has led to a sharp increase in municipal waste generation, which has resulted in significant environmental problems. However, the existing efficiency assessment models can neither well consider environmental sustainability nor provide empirical research. This paper constructed a municipal waste treatment efficiency index system from an ecological perspective and used the three-stage Bootstrap-DEA model to measure the efficiency of the OECD countries from 2008 to 2017. Kruskal–Wallis rank-sum tests are adopted to figure out factors. It was found that the overall municipal waste treatment efficiencies in the 29 OECD countries were relatively high. There was a slight downward trend from 2007 to 2010 and a steadily rising trend from 2010 to 2018. The average municipal waste treatment efficiencies were significant in the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, and Hungary but were relatively low in Turkey, Poland, and Italy. Then factors like the amount of municipal waste generated and the number of waste management employees can significantly affect efficiency performance. Combined with the empirical results, the article proposed targeted measures to promote waste treatment efficiency for policymakers in OECD countries.