Co-production in solid waste management: analyses of emerging cases and implications for circular economy in Nigeria

From confrontation to co-production: How China's ENGOs facilitate residents' waste management systems

Waste management has emerged as a critical challenge in multiple countries, where governance structures frequently exhibit insufficient robustness. Environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs), as pivotal stakeholders in this domain, must assume a more substantial role. However, their contributions have historically been perceived as limited. Whether and how ENGOs can play an important role deserves the attention of researchers. This paper investigates the evolving role of China's ENGOs through a longitudinal case study of nine organizations, examining their transition from adversarial to co-productive strategies, thereby fostering a tripartite collaboration system among government, enterprises, and residents. The findings reveal a three-phase evolution in organizational structure, issue focus, and tactical approaches, culminating in a three-cycle co-production framework for waste management. This study not only enriches co-production theory but also provides valuable insights into the critical role of ENGOs, offering practical guidance for sustainable waste governance.

Financing mechanism for solid waste management in Anambra, Nigeria: analyses of emerging challenges and implication for circular economy

Waste management is a critical public service provided by municipalities around the world. It is often problematic, inefficient, and abysmally performed in developing countries. Among the problems associated with waste management in these global locations is the issue of finance. Finance is required for both capital investment and operational costs. Methods of waste management financing differ from place to place due to cultural, political, and socio-economic peculiarities. Understanding these conditionalities is necessary to be able to proffer sustainable solutions. Despite these facts, there is limited comprehensive and relevant academic literature on waste management financing mechanisms in developing countries both in the past and recent times. This work addresses a significant gap in the literature by studying the mechanism for waste management financing in developing countries using Anambra State, Nigeria, as a case study. The current study further investigated the associated challenges and opportunities and made critical discussions on the implications on the circular economy. User fees and subsidies from the government are the major financing sources. The absence of cost-revenue model analysis, economic and institutional volatility, the unwillingness of the service users to pay fees, and lack of transparency are major challenges to the financial sustainability of waste management in the studied context. The creation of incentives for behavioral changes, adoption of neo-liberal policies, and formal integration of informal waste pickers are factors that can minimize the cost of waste management services while promoting a circular economy.

A sustainable green reverse logistics plan for plastic solid waste management using TOPSIS method

Recycling solid plastic waste is helpful for resource utilisation in a sustainable manner, and this can lead to reverse logistics to recover waste in supply chain management. In developing economies, it is very essential to recover waste and recycle it, as mismanagement of it could hasten the development of negative socioeconomic and environmental issues. This paper investigates plastic waste recycling by means of reverse logistics management. We feature Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), which is a multi-criteria decision-making approach to selecting a suitable warehouse that will assist the decision-maker and supply the product to the re-manufacturing cell by inspecting the waste. The paper also focuses on the carbon emissions that are emitted during re-manufacturing through a mathematical model that minimises the total cost and total carbon emissions. A case study of the plastic re-manufacturing industry in Tripura, India, is shown here to present the steps of the decision support system. The model is programmed with real-life data from the case study and yields a total cost of Rs. 2894.37 and total emissions of 414.15 gm/lt, when the disposal cost is considered; without it, the total cost is Rs. 2668.69 and the total emissions are 413.54 gm/lt. The results obtained are promising for reducing carbon emissions from the recycling process of plastic waste at a lower cost. This research will also help the environment cope with plastic waste, which has become a threat to nature, as well as carbon emissions that come from the industry. Finally, some managerial insights and suitable analyses with pictorial representation are proposed.

Circular economy and frugal innovation: a conceptual nexus

Frugal innovation (FI) and circular economy (CE) are two concepts that are recently being deliberated among researchers, policymakers, businesses, governments, and international organizations. Being a nascent development, both still lack an extant body of theories and data. Undisputedly they both share commonalities in gathering tractions among scholars. But the conceptual relationship between them has been unclear and hence makes it difficult to understand how one can promote the other. The current work constructs a conceptual framework through literature, explicating nexus, characteristics, and indicators of the two concepts and then exploring this framework through case analysis and focus group discussion (FGD). The results of our findings show that the two concepts are outcome of considerations on resource constraints and/or resource optimization; promote redesigning of product and services to minimize resources while achieving core functionality; involve the participation of stakeholders; and are implemented in stages. Most importantly, they foster the three pillars of sustainable development-social equity, economic prosperity, and environmental quality. However, supportive policies and institutions are largely associated with the development of CE which is not the same for FI in most countries. We conclude that FI being mainly operational in the emerging economies could serve as a veritable enabling tool for promoting the CE concept in the developing regions of the globe but will require the support of formal institutions and policies.