A case study of fuel savings through optimisation of MSW transportation routes

Purpose - The high costs of collection and transportation of municipal solid waste (MSW) on the overall waste management budget (sometimes more than 75 per cent) makes it an issue to be urgently addressed for improvement. The paper aims to focus on the optimisation of routing networks for waste coll...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Management of environmental quality 2008-01, Vol.19 (4), p.444-454
Main Authors: Tavares, Gilberto, Zsigraiova, Zdena, Semiao, Viriato, da Graça Carvalho, Maria
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Case studies
Consumption
Developing countries
Energy consumption
Environmental impact
Environmental quality
Fuels
Geographic information systems
Islands
Landfill
LDCs
Municipal solid waste
Optimization
Population
Remote sensing
Routes
Rural areas
Statistical analysis
Studies
Sustainable development
Tourism
Waste management
Waste management industry
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Summary:Purpose - The high costs of collection and transportation of municipal solid waste (MSW) on the overall waste management budget (sometimes more than 75 per cent) makes it an issue to be urgently addressed for improvement. The paper aims to focus on the optimisation of routing networks for waste collection transportation.Design methodology approach - The paper proposes herein the application of geographic information system (GIS) 3D route modelling for waste collection transportation to optimise the route according to the minimum fuel consumption criterion to different municipalities of the island of Santo Antao of Cape Verde.Findings - The optimisation for the lowest fuel consumption yields 52 per cent savings in fuel, when compared to that for the shortest distance, even travelling a 34 percent longer distance, which shows the importance of considering simultaneously the relief of the territory and the lowest fuel consumption criterion when optimising vehicle routes.Practical implications - With such a supporting decision tool savings in fuel are huge, the efficiency of management systems is improved and the environmental impact during daily operation is reduced. The GIS 3D route modelling takes into account the effects of both the road inclination and the vehicle load.Originality value - The originality of the work lies in the chosen approach. To optimise vehicle routes the criterion of minimum fuel consumption rather than the commonly used shortest distance is used, since fuel consumption is the factor reflecting actual costs relative to MSW management.
ISSN:1477-7835
1758-6119
DOI:10.1108/14777830810878632