Geographical information system (GIS) supported optimization of solid waste management alternatives in Trabzon city

In a municipal solid waste management system, decreasing collection/hauling costs consisting of 8 5 % oft otal d isposal e xpenditure c an b e c arried o ut b y r oute o ptimization. So a h uge amount of economical benefit is getting furnished. The objectives of this thesis are, in Trabzon City, by means of performing road net, demographics and solid waste production data, optimizing for the shortest route of collection/hauling and producing a time estimation model based on population per 100 m route length. Trabzon City located northeast side of Turkey has about 1 85 thousand inhabitants in respect of Census 2001. The city shares 1% of the Gross Domestic Income in Turkey. In other words, inhabitants living in Trabzon city have moderate revenue. In Trabzon City, a video camera marked Sony DCR-TRV145E was used in order to analyse solid waste collection/hauling process as recorded. Solid waste collection/hauling time was modeled based on data obtained records analyzed and the other GIS database. In t his t hesis, a m odel for s olid w aste c ollection/hauling t ime i ncase c urbside ore ontainer collection types have developed to be estimated based on population inhabiting through a vehicle route. Total pick-up time can be estimated based on population inhabiting through the route for two solid waste collection types. The number of containers located, and container locations could be estimated based on population inhabiting on the route. Unless it performs shortest path optimization in solid waste coUection/hauling process, costs will increase due to "empty miles" negativeness. In Trabzon City with 39 quarter districts, a shortest path model was used in order to optimize solid waste collection/hauling processes, as aimed at minimum cost. An optimization tool used was Route View ProT software. The software provided elements such as numerical pathways, demographic distribution data, container distribution data and solid waste production data. For example, thematic container layer was containing 777 points for the entire city. Using Route View ProTsoftware, the optimized route was compared with the present time route. If the optimized route in solid waste collection system is used, both distance and time will be decreased 4-59 % and 14-65 %, respectively. If it is performed in container solid waste collection process and route optimization, cost of the process will be reduced by 24 %. When applied to Pazarkapı-Çarşı Quarters route, optimized route helped solid waste collection processes decreasing distance and time 18 % and 22 %, respectively. In addition, time for turning left and right decreased by approximetly 30 %. In the thesis, a model based field data recorded by the camera also was developed to estimate accurate time consumption during collection/hauling. The model was supplied about 95% accuracy.Keywords: Solid waste collection/hauling, route time modelling, optimization, GIS, Trabzon