<p>Bio-waste represents over one third of the municipal solid waste in the European Union. To promote a circular economy, Directive 2018/851/EU on waste requires European Union Member States to collect bio-waste separately or ensure its separation and recycling at source from December 2023. The definition of efficient bio-waste management strategies for predominantly rural areas presents greater challenges due to the small potential of bio-waste production and longer transport distances. Addressing this problem in its planning phase, the authors tested an integrated, coherent and multicriteria framework supported in the best characterization of bio-waste in municipal waste and a systemic approach able to evaluate bio-waste collection models and management strategies with a set of technical, economic and environmental key performance indicators. From the application of the multicriteria framework to a real-based case study, it is suggested the implementation of separate collection only in areas with higher degree of urbanization and separation at source for the management of greater quantities of bio-waste. These results are coherent with studies made in low-density territories with alternative approaches as well as they put in evidence the importance of financial support for the concretization of public policies regarding the management of municipal waste in general, and bio-waste in particular.</p>