Assessing Service Delivery Effectiveness in Municipal Solid Waste Management under the Public–Private Partnership Model: A Household Perspective from Astana

Abstract

Municipal solid waste management (MSWM) is an essential urban service, yet rapidly growing cities often struggle to maintain service quality as demand increases. In Astana, Kazakhstan, waste management is organized through public-private partnership (PPP) arrangements with private operators responsible for service provision. Despite citizens being the end-users of these services, limited empirical research has examined how residents perceive the quality of waste management services under this system. This study evaluates the effectiveness of Astana’s PPP-based MSWM system from the perspective of households using the SERVQUAL service delivery framework. The analysis is based on a household survey measuring expectations and perceptions of waste management services across five SERVQUAL dimensions, including Tangibles, Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance, and Empathy. GAP scores were calculated as the difference between perceived and expected service quality. Non-parametric tests, regression analysis, and bootstrapping simulation were used to examine whether service quality GAP differs across districts and socio-demographic groups. The results reveal a consistent negative service quality GAP across all dimensions, with an overall mean GAP score of approximately −0.919, indicating that current service performance falls short of residents’ expectations, irrespective of districts, income, education, and past residence. The largest GAP occurs in the Responsiveness dimension, suggesting deficiencies in communication, complaint handling, and the ability of service providers to respond to operational issues. The findings suggest the existing PPP arrangements in MSWM in Astana can be enhanced through improved communication with residents, strengthening monitoring of private operators, refining PPP contract design, introducing public awareness campaigns, and increasing public trust.