Russia is actively reforming its environmental sector and continually introducing new policies in waste management. This paper provides insight to the current system of municipal solid waste management (MSWM) in the Moscow megapolis and identifies the extant performance challenges caused by the misfit of moving from a predominantly bureaucratic system to a quasi-market process. While the Russian waste management reforms seem to be moving towards a western approach to mirror those of San Francisco, USA, the comparative analysis provided within the study reveals that there is better administrative compatibility with the Asian approach currently being implemented in Seoul, South Korea. Finally the paper provides suggestions for collaborative governance with regards to household waste management in the city.