Network Design for Municipal Solid Waste Collection: A Case Study of the Nanjing Jiangbei New Area

Jing Liang and Ming Liu
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Jing Liang: School of Biology and Environment, Nanjing Polytechnic Institute, Nanjing 210048, China
Ming Liu: School of Economics and Management, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 12, 1-15

Abstract: Garbage collection is an important part of municipal engineering. An effective service network design can help to reduce the municipal operation cost and improve its service level. In this paper, we propose an optimization model for the network design of municipal solid waste (MSW) collection in the Nanjing Jiangbei new area. The problem was formulated as a mixed integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) model with an emphasis on minimizing the annual operation cost. The model simultaneously decides on the optimal number of refuse transfer stations (RTSs), determines the relative size and location for each RTS, allocates each community to a specific RTS, and finally identifies the annual operation cost and service level for the optimal scenario as well as other scenarios. A custom solution procedure which hybrids an enumeration rule and a genetic algorithm was designed to solve the proposed model. A sensitivity analysis was also conducted to illustrate the impact of changes in parameters on the optimality of the proposed model. Test results revealed that our model could provide tangible policy recommendations for managing the MSW collection.

Keywords: municipal solid waste; location and allocation; network design; mixed integer nonlinear programming; optimization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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