Greenhouse gas emissions comparison of solid waste transportation system: a case study in Thailand

Abstract

During the early periods of civilization, solid waste was conveniently collected transported and disposed because of the low number of population. However, waste generation is expected to increase becasue of rapid population growth and consequently shows an increase in solid waste collection, transportation, and disposal. Waste transportation planning is a difficult task due to the issues of the increasing numbers of garbage vehicles and the fluctuation of fuel prices as well as the cost-effectiveness and health and environmental impacts. An unsustainable waste collection and transportation is heading towards a variety of indirect human health impacts. Accordingly, the vehicle routing problem (VRP) plays a significant role in the field of waste collection and transportation system. This study compares three different Life Cycle Assessment (LCA approaches for the waste transport in Ladkrabang, Bangkok, Thailand. The three scenarios are modelled using GaBi 7 software tool and results are presented based on the CML 2001. The assessment outcomes indicated that the routing optimization with diesel and electric garbage trucks could significantly reduce the GWP impact by 8.51% and 66.44% compared to the baseline scenario, respectively.