Abstract
Moving toward a circular economy requires improvement of the economic and environmental performance of municipalities in their provision of municipal solid waste (MSW) services. Understanding performance changes over years is fundamental to support decision-making. This study employs the Luenberger-Hicks-Moorsteen productivity indicator to evaluate eco-productivity change and its drivers in the MSW sector in Chile over the years 2015–2019. The further use of decision tree and linear regression analysis allows exploration of the interaction between operating characteristics and eco-productivity estimations. The results of the eco-productivity assessment show that, although the Chilean MSW sector was still facing a transitional period, from 2015 to 2019, eco-productivity increased 1.28% per year. Gains in eco-productivity were due to technical progress and small gains in efficiency, whereas scale effect had an adverse impact. Other factors such as waste spending per inhabitant and the amount of waste collected and recycled per inhabitant had a significant impact on the eco-productivity of Chilean municipalities.

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Acknowledgements
María Molinos-Senante gratefully acknowledges the financial support provided by the Chilean Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo (ANID) through Project Fondecyt Regular 1210077 and FONDAP 1523A0004.
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Highlights
• Dynamic eco-efficiency of solid waste services providers was assessed.
• Eco-productivity of Chilean municipalities improved by 1.28% per year.
• Technical progress was the main driver of eco-productivity change.
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Mocholi-Arce, M., Sala-Garrido, R., Molinos-Senante, M. et al. A comprehensive evaluation of eco-productivity of the municipal solid waste service in Chile. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng. 19, 11 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-025-1931-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-025-1931-9