Optimizing Service Quality of Waste Management Apps: A Taguchi Approach

Achieving sustainability goals is challenging without appropriate infrastructure for waste collection, recycling, and disposal, including e-waste. While many mobile applications assist with waste collection, issues related to service quality hinder their widespread adoption. The objective of this study was to identify issues affecting the service quality of the waste collection process facilitated by mobile apps and to propose service design interventions that could improve service quality. In order to understand major areas of service quality concerns, customer reviews about leading waste management apps were analyzed using the tool “AppBot.” To modify the waste collection process, this study used the “design thinking approach” as the key methodology. The Taguchi experiment identified the most appropriate options for improving several key service quality factors highlighted by customer reviews. This experiment determined the optimum combination of service quality attributes for waste collection using mobile apps in order to maximize service quality. This study contributes to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 3, 6,11, and 13. The findings of this study can be used by policymakers to design and manage public services more effectively. The results of this study can also be used by waste collection processes and other service providers to benchmark their performance and come up with ways to improve service quality.