Solid waste management through partnerships: a study on the role of facilitating agencies

This research examined the role of facilitating agencies in promoting public-private partnerships (PPP). Bangladesh's solid waste management sector was taken as a case study. As is the case in many developing countries, municipalities in Bangladesh could not cope with rapid urbanization resulting in a large proportion of solid waste remaining uncollected. The private sector took the opportunity to fill this gap in service. They started providing house-to-house garbage collection and charging citizens for this service. Therefore, two streams of service providers-public and private-became active in the sector. In some cities the two streams remained separate without coordination. In other cities the two sectors formed partnership with support from facilitating agencies. This research investigated the roles played by the facilitating agencies. Three broad aspects were investigated: (1) necessity of facilitating agencies, (2) the role of a facilitating agency in sustainability of partnership, and (3) the role of a facilitating agency in effectiveness of partnership. Four cities were included in the study with varying degree of PPP and facilitation. Primary data were collected from public and private sector staff, elected representatives, and citizens through interview, questionnaire survey and observation. PPP is a promising mechanism for urban service delivery. This study on the role of facilitating agencies may illustrate how to achieve and sustain PPPs in developing countries.