The management of wastes with the least cost and environmental burden has recently gained importance in terms of environment and circular economy. This study aims to evaluate alternative methods of waste collection and transportation activities which require high costs in waste management. In this context, alternative methods were identified and compared by using an operational research approach based on mathematical modeling and optimization. In the scope of this study, the options of transporting waste by collection trucks, transporting by rail, by water and transporting in pipes where the waste is conveyed to the waste treatment facility by vacuum or compressed air were evaluated in terms of carbon emissions and workforce requirements. In transportation by pipes, the waiting time of wastes and the need for the operational workload are considerably minimized. It was also determined that in the regions where the waste collection route is more than 80 km and at least 1000 tons of waste is collected per day, rail transport of wastes could reduce emissions in the range of 80-90% and provide fuel savings of 70-78%. While the transfer of 1000 tons of waste is provided by approximately 50 trucks (50 separate trips), this number is 2 by train. In this context, 73% of the total distance traveled and 68% of the workload could be saved. The assignment of the waste collection days and making them public is also important in terms of minimizing the waiting time of the wastes and making the collection activity more systematic.
This study was produced from the master thesis of Fatih Kamaoðlu with the supervision of Assist. Prof. Dr. Nesli Aydýn.
Anahtar Kelimeler: circular economy, environment, operational research approach, optimization, waste collection and transportation
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