Federalist systems of government are commonly characterized by multiple and overlapping governmental jurisdictions.  New Regionalism literature often argues that this arrangement is ineffective and favors a consolidated government model.  By contrast, local public economy literature favors the polycentric arrangements noting that multiple overlapping governmental jurisdictions instill competition, leading to more effective programs.  This paper explores the fragmentation versus consolidation debate from a public service industry perspective exploring the production of city-level solid waste services.  These trash and recycling services generally fall into one of three categories: a polycentric system (fragmentation and overlap), franchise zones (fragmentation but no overlap), or a citywide exclusive franchise (consolidation).  This paper explores if one form of these solid waste collection methods is inherently more effective than the others at the city scale.  The paper analyzes a large N quantitative data set of coded survey data from a sample of cities across the United States.