Sustainable collection and transportation of municipal solid waste in urban centers

Collection and transportation (C&T) of municipal solid waste (MSW) is a major contributor to the overall cost, air emissions, social indignation, and fuel consumption in the entire management system. Different techniques are practiced or proposed in urban centers globally to develop an economically feasible, environmentally sustainable, socially convenient, and technologically updated C&T.

Unfortunately, little research has been carried out for emphasizing salient features of diverse C&T techniques to draw any firm conclusion on their suitability for the specific urban area. Therefore, this short communication describes different C&T techniques with recommendations on their suitability for specific urban areas in developing or developed countries and plausible mathematical or computational modeling approaches to make them more efficient.

This study will facilitate municipal officials to decide an appropriate C&T technique for their respective MSW management system. This article can further be used as a reference text for stakeholders to evaluate their C&T technique mathematically.