Municipal waste management between in-house provision and outsourcing

Under Section 22 of the KrWG, public waste disposal authorities are free to choose whether to provide waste management services themselves or to commission third parties to do so. In the 1990s, outsourcing and privatisation of municipal utilities was the focus of attention, on the grounds of greater efficiency. This trend has reversed over the past decade for various reasons. Many local authorities are once again carrying out essential waste management activities themselves. These services are permanently withdrawn from the market. Private waste management companies have been hit by a wave of consolidation in recent years. Large parts of Germany are the core areas of four major waste management companies. The book examines whether in-house provision, cooperation or outsourcing/contracting out is the most efficient form of service provision from a transaction cost theory perspective, taking into account other parameters such as waste disposal security and fee stability.