A GIS based transportation model for solid waste disposal – A case study on Asansol municipality

• Published in: Waste management (Elmsford) Vol. 26; no. 11; pp. 1287 - 1293
• Main Authors: Ghose, M.K., Dikshit, A.K., Sharma, S.K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01-01-2006; New York, NY Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Costs and Cost Analysis; ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; Exact sciences and technology; FUEL CONSUMPTION; General treatment and storage processes; GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS; Humans; INDIA; OPERATING COST; Other wastes and particular components of wastes; Pollution; Refuse Disposal - economics; Refuse Disposal - methods; SANITARY LANDFILLS; SOLID WASTES; Transportation - economics; Transportation - methods; URBAN POPULATIONS; Waste Management - economics; Waste Management - methods; Wastes; India; India, West Bengal; Waste dumping; Fuel consumption; Operating cost; Urban area; Waste disposal; Modeling; Optimization; Waste management; Transport process; Sanitary landfill; Geographic information system; Solid waste; Load balancing; Population density
• ISSN: 0956-053X; 1879-2456
• DOI: 10.1016/j.wasman.2005.09.022

Uncontrolled growth of the urban population in developing countries in recent years has made solid waste management an important issue. Very often, a substantial amount of total expenditures is spent on the collection of solid waste by city authorities. Optimization of the routing system for collection and transport of solid waste thus constitutes an important component of an effective solid waste management system. This paper describes an attempt to design and develop an appropriate storage, collection and disposal plan for the Asansol Municipality Corporation (AMC) of West Bengal State (India).
A GIS optimal routing model is proposed to determine the minimum cost/distance efficient collection paths for transporting the solid wastes to the landfill. The model uses information on population density, waste generation capacity, road network and the types of road, storage bins and collection vehicles, etc. The proposed model can be used as a decision support tool by municipal authorities for efficient management of the daily operations for transporting solid wastes, load balancing within vehicles, managing fuel consumption and generating work schedules for the workers and vehicles.
The total cost of the proposed collection systems is estimated to be around 80 million rupees for the fixed cost of storage bins, collection vehicles and a sanitary landfill and around 8.4 million rupees for the annual operating cost of crews, vehicles and landfill maintenance. A substantial amount (25 million rupees/yr) is currently being spent by AMC on waste collection alone without any proper storage/collection system and sanitary landfill. Over a projected period of 15
yr, the overall savings is thus very significant.