Objective: to identify barriers of rating organizations' evaluation criteria for improving the management of the sphere of solid waste management. There is a reorientation of markets in Russia. Nevertheless, new international platforms have requirements for assessment of ESG-activities of organizations. Therefore, it is important to conduct a comparative analysis and identify the barriers of evaluation criteria of rating organizations to improve the principles of evaluation of organizations in the sphere of solid municipal waste management (MSW). The author has formed the concept of the architecture of the «green» investment mechanism, which includes the MSW sphere. Based on the generalization and analysis of sources, typical barriers are identified. The interrelations of rating organizations in the investment mechanism are determined. Results: a comparative analysis of barriers is carried out, improved criteria tested on a regional operator are proposed. The concept of electronic profiles of rating agencies, tax authority and organizations in the digital economic platform is described . The results are summarized and their common barriers of rating criteria are identified: low «weight» of criteria in the assessment of the block «MSW handling», information distortions, etc. The modification of rating criteria in the sphere of MSW handling is proposed. The results of the study will be useful for rating organizations, investors, specialists in the field of MSW handling during the transition to a circular economy. The theoretical significance of the article lies in the systematization of typical approaches to the justification of barriers of rating criteria. The concept of investment mechanism architecture is presented. The practical significance of the research results lies in the possibility of identifying problematic aspects of the regional operator to minimize the impact of the identified barriers.