Toward effective multi-sector partnership: A case of municipal solid waste management service provision in Bangkok, Thailand

Abstract

     An increasing amount of municipal solid waste needs an effective waste management system to provide reliable service, but in reality this has failed to respond to the demand. Partnership is considered as a potential solution that can increase waste management service performance. A public-private-community partnership was studied as a potential way to alleviate the impacts of ineffective waste management. Based on the tripartite service concept, the roles and relationships between service providers and service recipients were identified by incorporating analyzed results obtained from questionnaires, interviews, and site visits. Bangkok was selected as a representative urban city in a developing country that has experienced problems caused by ineffective waste management. The results showed that 87.2 percent of respondents thought that everyone should be responsible for and be part of waste management. A public-private-community partnership was a vital factor in a successful waste management system and also had high possibility to be implemented. In the partnership, essential roles were identified for each stakeholder sector including service recipients, intermediaries, and service providers. Based on the tripartite service concept, a modified conceptual model was proposed.