Efficiency enhancement in waste management through GIS-based route optimization

Due to rapid urbanization and uncontrolled population growth, solid waste management has become a rising issue in developing nations like Bangladesh. Khulna ranks third among Bangladesh's metropolitan cities. The existing system of Khulna City for transporting municipal solid waste lacks route planning and depends exclusively on the driver's expertise. Hence, this study aims to minimize the length of the present travel paths and assess the advantages of using optimized routes. Secondary datasets like a list of vehicles, financial information, and a list of secondary transfer stations have been collected from the municipality. A field survey was conducted to capture the coordinates of secondary transfer stations. Multiple GPS devices have been installed for monitoring the current paths, stops, and travel time of 31 waste collector vehicles for 10 months. A network database has been prepared and modified by integrating driver's perceptions and field inspection. Network analysis of ArcGIS Pro has been used for finding the optimized routes. The optimized route minimizes the travel distance by 9.40%. By following the optimized routes, about 11.6% of fuel costs can be reduced. This research has the potential to make a significant contribution to the waste management of Khulna City and beyond.