The purpose of this paper is to propose a hybrid structural-interpretative modeling with the application for the performance improvement of plastic waste management (PWM), considering collection, sorting, and recycling processes. It is applied: Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), Interpretative Structural Modeling (ISM), and Matrix of Impact Cross-Multiplication Applied to Classification (MICMAC). All hypotheses, constructs and indicators have been derived from the literature review. A survey assessed whether and how PWM performance is influenced by the following factors: efficiency, effectiveness, physical characteristics of waste, municipal facilities, socioeconomic factors, and organizations’ managerial factors. The respondents, in number of 40, fulfill the required sample size. The statistical outputs from PLS-SEM showed the resulted model’s reliability, which makes the discussion valid. This, along with the results from the ISM-MICMAC procedure, indicates that through the respondents, the municipal facilities with a higher availability of recycling bins, voluntary delivery points, eco-points, and papa-plásticos are crucial. In addition, the organizations with experienced employees, marketing relations and incentive-based programs are in advantage. Plastics that enable high-quality recycling and reuse should be prioritized for PWM effectiveness. In turn, recycling rate and volume of recycling have been verified as key indicators of PWM performance. The modeling has demonstrated to be a satisfactory approach for exploratory studies, yielding consistent results and providing statistical validity to hybrid structural-interpretative models, even with a modest sample size. The current approach has considered Brazilian issues, but the methodology can be used all over the world.