Chapter 2

Literature review

Advances in the improvements of solid waste management systems have been

taking place over the years. Many researchers have studied different
approaches which could be applied to MSW management and their effects on
the efficiency of the system.

Kirca and Erkip (1988) studied the effect of adding transfer stations to
collection areas. They also attempted to prepare a request for a proposal for
transfer station bidding, by determining the total number, the locations, and
the capacities of the transfer stations. Later, Koskosidis (1992) developed an
optimization-based heuristic algorithm for the capacitated clustering
problem, and algorithms for the generalized assignment problem. Iterative
methods were proposed that avoid the specification of “seed” customers
required by other algorithms, and which were shown to produce better
solutions than existing heuristics.

Miranda and Garrido (2004) studied finding the number of vehicles and
assigning customers to capacitated vehicle routes such that the total system
cost is minimal. The study’s aim was to design vehicle routes for the
distribution (or collection) of products in a system with a fixed number of
depots that serve a fixed set of customers. In comparison, Kim et al., (2006)
addressed a real-life waste collection vehicle routing problem with time
windows with consideration of multiple disposal trips and drivers’ lunch
breaks. Solomon’s well-known insertion algorithm is extended for the
problem

Meanwhile, Badran and El-Haggar (2006) proposed a model for municipal

solid waste management with the aid of collection stations. Mixed integer
programming was used for the minimization of the municipal solid waste
management system cost. Mora et al., (2013) presented a case study
concerning the improvement of the ‘kerbside’ waste collection system, with
the aim of increasing the quality of waste collection and the collection rate, in
order to reduce the final impact on the environment.

After that, Põldnurk (2015) focused on the municipal waste management

model optimization in rural areas from the aspect of economic, environmental
and administrative efficiency. The objective of the research was to assess the
environmental and economic feasibility of source sorting paper and bio-waste
in rural municipalities. The improvement of administrative efficiency, and
economic cost-effectiveness resulting in reorganization of waste management
administration was assessed as well.

Zhao and Zhu (2016) formulated a model through the two-commodity flow
formulation. Simultaneously planning tours and vehicle acquisitions for the
explosive waste collection and designing the return-trips between collection
centers and recycling centers was part of the study. A modified lexicographic
weighted Tchebycheff method was proposed.

Khan and Samadder (2016) presented a suitable solid waste collection bin
allocation method with uniform distances and easily accessible locations so
that the collection vehicle routes become optimal. The network analyst tool
set available in ArcGIS was used to find the optimized route for solid waste
collection considering all the required parameters for solid waste collection
efficiently. The study also demonstrated the significant cost reductions that
can be obtained compared with the current practices in the study area.

Habibi et al., (2017) aimed to locate the optimal sites of MSW recycling and
disposal facilities. Also, it intended to optimize the capacity allocation of
landfills and transfer stations to other locations. The most suitable technology
for each operation was to be determined as well as the right number and type
of transport vehicles.

Trochu et al., (2017) addressed the reverse logistics network design problem
under environmental policies targeting recycled wood materials from the
construction, renovation and demolition industry. Their main objective was to
determine the location and the capacities of the sorting facilities to ensure
compliance with the new regulation and prevent the wood from being
massively landfilled. A mixed-integer linear programming model was used
minimize the total cost of the wood recycling process. The following table
shows the classification of each related study according to different stages,
objectives and case studies.

A summary of the relevant information taken from and found in each of the
papers used in the literature review is provided in Table 4.
Table 4: Literature review

Source Stage No. of objectives Type of objective

Clustering Routing Collection Sorting Recycling Allocation Multiple Single Cost Environment Other*

Kirca and Erkip (1988) x x x x

Koskosidis (1992) x x x

Miranda and Garrido

x x x
(2004)

Kim et al., (2006) x x x x x

Badran and El-Haggar

x x x
(2006)

Mora et al., (2013) x x x x

Põldnurk (2015) x x x x x

Zhao and Zhu (2016) x x x x

Khan and Samadder

x x x x x
(2016)

Habibi et al., (2017) x x x x x

Trochu et al., (2017) x x x x x x

Proposed model x x x x x x x

* Other objectives are: