2026 Reports

Public vs. Public-Private Partnership in Solid Waste Management: A Circular Economy

Muhammad, Shoaib; Khan, Musharib; Sheikh, Taimur Mazhar

Wah Cantt, a city of approximately 400,000 located 30 kilometres northwest of Islamabad, Pakistan, runs two parallel solid waste management systems: a public entity serving 70% of the population in the private area, and a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) between Pakistan Ordnance Factories and Ghulam Hussain & Sons serving the remaining 30% in the state area. The PPP operates an Integrated Zero Waste Facility combining a Material Recovery Facility, composting, and pelleting, while the public entity relies on conventional collection and direct disposal at a dumpsite. A comparative analysis across technical, social, and economic dimensions found that the PPP collected 36.7 tons of waste per day at higher efficiency and on fixed schedules, with 77% of residents reporting satisfaction with services compared to 50% for the public entity. Cost-benefit analysis showed PPP operating costs of about USD 13,790 per month against revenues of approximately USD 15,860 per month from recovered materials, compost, and pellets, while the public entity's costs of about USD 81,330 per month generated no recoverable revenue. Persistent challenges included informal-sector interference with roadside collection, residents' continued use of kerbside skips, lack of waste segregation that reduced compost quality, and limited coordination between the two waste management entities. The case argues that circular-economy-based PPPs can offer a viable, resource-efficient pathway for municipal solid waste management in financially constrained urban contexts and align with national climate commitments by reducing methane emissions from open dumping.

Keywords: public-private partnerships, solid waste management, Pakistan, circular economy