Set against a milieu of solemn concerns emanating from inadequate municipal solid waste management on one side and the impetus given to private sector participation, this book critically examines and generates empirical evidence on the performance and implications of private sector participation in municipal solid waste management through the lens of a sustainability assessment prism specifically constructed for this purpose. Contents1. Municipal Solid Waste Management in India: The Road to Privatization1.1 Introduction 1.2 Private sector participation in municipal solid waste management1.3 Contextual setting: India 1.4 Amritsar: Case study impressions1.5 Study aim1.6 Key research questions 1.7 Justification of the study 1.8 Methodological framework of research2. Municipal Solid Waste Management: A Conjectural Discourse 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Theoretical discourse methodology 2.3 Municipal solid waste: Exploring the heap 2.4 Private sector participation: A municipal solid waste perspective 2.5 Private sector participation in MSW management: Review2.6 Determining the lens of sustainability, assessment criteria and indicators2.7 Criteria and indicators in the private sector participation literature2.8 Private sector participation in MSW management: Assessment of criteria and indicator choices2.9 Sustainability assessment framework for case study evaluation2.10 Neo-institutionalism and evaluation of inter-organisational relationships2.11 Sustainability assessment framework 3. Sustainability Assessment Framework for Evaluation of Privatization3.1 Introduction3.2 Revisiting the key research question 3.3 Sustainability assessment framework for the study 3.4 Of ontological and epistemological premises: Detangling the paradigm web3.5 Research design 3.6 Reliability and validity 3.7 Case study protocol 3.8 Methods employed for data collection 3.9 Sampling methods 3.10 Data analysis 3.11 Research ethics 4. Amritsar: A Waste Trajectory and Chronicle of Privatisation 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Amritsar: A Spatial-Demographic brief 4.3 The waste trail 4.4 MSW characteristics and composition 4.5 MSW management operations 4.6 Community perceptions of MSW management 4.7 An account of waste litigations 4.8 Romancing privatisation; on shaky grounds? 5. Sustainability Assessment of the Social Dimension 5.1 Introduction 5.2 A brief review of social sustainability benchmarks5.3 Informal waste management operations in the city 5.4 Local government policy towards informal waste sector integration5.5 Impacts of privatisation on the informal sector 5.6 Impact on AMC sanitary workers5.7 Impact on sanitation workers of the private waste handling company5.8 Equitable access to service 5.9 Community participation in MSW post-privatisation 6. Sustainability Assessment of the Economic Dimension 6.1 Introduction 6.2 A brief review of economic sustainability benchmarks 6.3 Economic efficiency 6.4 Labour productivity 6.5 Vehicle productivity7. Sustainability Assessment of the Environmental Dimension 7.1 Introduction 7.2 A brief review of environmentally sustainable MSW practices7.3 Waste generation7.4 Waste storage and segregation 7.5 Waste collection and transportation 7.6 Waste treatment 7.7 Waste disposal 7.8 Environmental and occupational risk 8. Sustainability Assessment of the Institutional Dimension8.1 Introduction 8.2 Institutional sustainability dynamics8.3 Pre-requisites framework 8.4 Key contract specifications 8.5 Inter-organisational relationships 9. Pragmatic Reflections 9.1 Introduction 9.2 An analytical summary of findings9.3 Contribution of the study9.4 Critical reflections 9.5 Propositions for future studies 9.6 Recommendations for progression towards MSW sustainability