Municipal solid waste management in Europe has undergone a profound transformation over the past three decades, driven by regulatory harmonization at the European Union level, technological advances in waste treatment, and evolving societal expectations regarding sustainability and climate responsibility. Central to this transformation is the separate collection of waste fractions, particularly bio-waste and dry recyclables, which is widely regarded as a prerequisite for high-quality recycling and material recovery. This article develops a comprehensive and integrative analysis of the determinants, impacts, and policy implications of separate collection systems in European municipalities, with a particular emphasis on behavioral responses, institutional arrangements, and governance models. Drawing strictly on the provided body of literature, the study synthesizes insights from environmental economics, public administration, and waste management engineering to explore how collection design, pricing instruments, privatization, inter-municipal cooperation, and regulatory frameworks interact to shape recycling outcomes. The article further examines how door-to-door bio-waste collection can generate positive spillovers for the collection of dry recyclables, how unit-based pricing affects household behavior, and how heterogeneous treatment effects challenge conventional evaluation methods in policy analysis. Rather than offering a narrow empirical assessment, the paper adopts a theoretically rich and descriptive approach, unpacking causal mechanisms, contextual contingencies, and long-term system dynamics. The findings highlight that separate collection performance cannot be understood in isolation but emerges from a complex interplay of behavioral incentives, institutional capacity, market structures, and legal constraints. The discussion critically assesses limitations in current approaches and identifies future research directions, particularly regarding equity, administrative feasibility, and the alignment of climate and resource efficiency objectives. The article concludes that achieving high recycling rates in Europe requires not only technical optimization but also coherent policy mixes and adaptive governance frameworks capable of accommodating local diversity while meeting overarching European targets.

Municipal solid waste, separate collection, recycling policy

Abeshev K, Koppenborg F (2023) More than just organics: Boosting separate collection of dry recyclables with door-to-door bio-waste collection in EU capitals. Waste Management 161:156–165. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2023.02.026

Ackerman F (2000) Waste management and climate change. Local Environment: The International Journal of Justice and Sustainability 5(2):223–229. https://doi.org/10.1080/13549830050009373

Alacevich C, Bonev B, Söderberg M (2021) Pro-environmental interventions and behavioral spillovers: Evidence from organic waste sorting in Sweden. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 108:102470

Albizzati P, Tonini D, Gaudillat P (2024) Impacts of the collection and treatment of dry recyclables. Publications Office of the European Union

ARC (2022) Metodologia d’obtenció de les dades estadístiques de residus municipals a Catalunya. Agència de Residus de Catalunya

ARC (2023) Estadístiques de residus municipals. Agència de Residus de Catalunya

ARC (2024a) Segons fraccions. Agència de Residus de Catalunya

ARC (2024b) Characteristics of selective collection of light packaging. Agència de Residus de Catalunya

Bel G, Elston T (2024) Disentangling the separate and combined effects of privatization and cooperation on local government service delivery. Public Administration 102(4):1624–1646. https://doi.org/10.1111/padm.12992

Bel G, Gradus R (2016) Effects of unit-based pricing on household waste collection demand: A meta-regression analysis. Resource and Energy Economics 44:169–182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.reseneeco.2016.03.003

Borusyak K, Jaravel X, Spiess J (2024) Revisiting event-study designs: Robust and efficient estimation. Review of Economic Studies 91(6):3253–3285. https://doi.org/10.1093/restud/rdae007

Butts K, Gardner J (2022) did2s: Two-stage difference-in-differences. The R Journal 14(3):162–173

Callan SJ, Thomas JM (2001) Economies of scale and scope: A cost analysis of municipal solid waste services. Land Economics 77(4):548–560

Callaway B, Sant’Anna PH (2021) Difference-in-differences with multiple time periods. Journal of Econometrics 225(2):200–230

Cecon VS, Curtzwiler GW, Vorst KL (2023) Evaluation of mixed plastics waste from material recovery facilities in the United States. Waste Management 171:313–323

De Chaisemartin C, D’Haultfœuille X (2020) Two-way fixed effects estimators with heterogeneous treatment effects. American Economic Review 110(9):2964–2996

De Chaisemartin C, D’Haultfœuille X (2023) Two-way fixed effects and differences-in-differences with heterogeneous treatment effects: A survey. The Econometrics Journal 26(3):C1–C30

European Union (1999) Directive 1999/31/EC on the landfill of waste. Official Journal of the European Union L 182/5

European Union (2008) Directive 2008/98/EC on waste. Official Journal of the European Union L 213/3

Jansen M, Thoden van Velzen EU, Ferreira B, Pretz T (2013) Recovery of plastics from municipal solid waste in materials recovery facilities. In: Sardinia 2013, 14th International Waste Management and Landfill Symposium