Modeling transfer station locations considering source separation of solid waste in urban centers: A case study of Bilaspur city, India

Abstract

Lack of infrastructures, rapid growth in population, high urbanization and unsegregation makes the management of municipal solid waste a difficult task for local authorities. The paper proposes an approach for selecting the waste transfer station locations under unsegregated and segregated waste scenarios in an economical manner. The analytical approach is a combination of two basic components, (i) a mathematical optimization model for the overall cost of municipal solid waste management; and (ii) tools of a geographic information system for creating the dataset of the mathematical model. The novelty in the developed model includes strategic allocation of transfer stations for three scenarios: (i) solid waste collected from sources without segregation (Scenario (I)); (ii) waste collected considering source separation and transfer stations taking only one type of wastes (Scenario (II)); (iii) waste collected under source separation and transfer stations having multiple halls for multiple types of waste (Scenario (III)). The proposed approach has been verified by applying on city of Bilaspur, India. Optimization model selects six best locations for Scenario (I), (II) and five for Scenario (III). Results also show that among the three scenarios studied, scenario (III) is the best as it is providing more profit than scenario (II) and (I). Validity of the model is tested by ANOVA analysis and it suggested key parameters (frequency, operating cost and land value) as significant. This finding suggests that transfer stations with or without multiple halls under source separation environment can earn the profit from solid waste while solving the problem of high collection cost and landfills.