Abstract:
In 2010, 1.3 billion tons of solid waste was produced on a global scale. 84% of these solid wastes were collected and 15% were recycled. In an integrated solid waste management system, the highest cost is the collection and transportation of wastes, and their ratio can reach up to 80% of total waste management cost. Major components of waste collection operational cost are fuel cost, truck amortization and personnel cost. The amount of waste collected, the physical characteristics of the waste, types of collection trucks, truck capacities and the distance between the city and the transfer station are other parameters affecting the cost. In this study, in order to determine the effect of solid waste collection frequency on total collection and transportation cost, a realistic scenario was developed and cost analysis was carried out for both collection of waste with and without transfer station cases. Parameters such as truck volume, waste density, waste amount, distance between city and transfer station were determined after the literature review was done and informations were taken from the authorized persons in the private sector and local governments to achieve realistic conditions in scenario. During this study, the total project life is estimated to be 30 years, and the renewal of 6 years for 1 tender is foreseen. The necessary calculations have been made for the scenario where the production of waste is 100 tons/day and they are collected by 8 m3 trucks and the transfer station is located 10 km away from the city. Collection and transportation costs were calculated for two scenarios. First scenario includes transfer station while second is not. In the following calculations, collection frequency was reduced from once per day to once per week. When waste collection frequency is decreased from everyday to once a week, where the disposal facility is located 30 km away from the city, it has been found that total collection and transportation cost reduced the almost 30 %.