Optimization of Municipal Solid Waste routes to minimize Fuel Consumption

Have you ever thought of how much fuel is being consumed in order for your garbage to be picked up and transported? The great costs of collection and transportation of municipal solid waste account for sometimes more than 75% of the overall waste management budget. This impact on the budget, the overall cost and effect on the environment needs to be urgently addressed for improvement. There is a great need for optimization of routing networks for waste collection/transportation. The application of geographic information system (GIS) 3D route modeling for waste collection/transportation to optimize the routes would aid in helping to minimize the heavy fuel consumption. The GIS route modeling takes into account the effects of both the road inclinations and the vehicles load. For instance a route would start in the area where hills are most prominent, this would make it so that the load is lightest when navigating through the highest road inclination areas. A combination of shorter and strategically navigated routes and optimizing the vehicles for lowest fuel consumption enables budget relief as well as relief for the environment.

This article provides the full extent of the research and findings. I would recommend reading the article as it provides insightful suggestions on how to minimize fuel consumption for waste management, which can be directly applied to your everyday driving.

Posted by: Mathilde Goldschmidt