Eco-efficiency as an auxiliary measure for the definition of interregional public consortia responsible for the collection of recyclable domestic waste

This article presents as its main contribution a set of procedures for the definition of interregional public consortia responsible for the implementation and operation of door-to-door selective collection, which is a new approach to this definition. This procedure is structured in ten steps which are necessary for the generation of options of partitioning in a study region in a number (k) of groups, considering that groups with two or more subregions represent consortia, and the analysis of these options by means of financial and environmental performance measures. The referred procedure has been applied here to a case concerning a region in the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Through the study of this case, it is concluded that the most adequate option is k = 2 groups. In this option, there is the formation of a public consortium comprising five study subregions and one of the subregions must not enter the consortium (this subregion is responsible for the generation of 73% of recyclable waste produced in the study area). The application of this procedure provides assistance in decision-making on the part of the analyst who needs to implement door-to-door selective collection, as an action for the improvement of solid waste management in a group of studied subregions.