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Routing Optimization for Waste Management

Author

Listed:
  • Surya Sahoo

    (Institute of Information Technology, Inc., 2204 Timberloch, Suite 225, The Woodlands, Texas 77380)

  • Seongbae Kim

    (Institute of Information Technology, Inc., 2204 Timberloch, Suite 225, The Woodlands, Texas 77380)

  • Byung-In Kim

    (Institute of Information Technology, Inc., 2204 Timberloch, Suite 225, The Woodlands, Texas 77380)

  • Bob Kraas

    (Waste Management, Inc., 1001 Fannin Street, Houston, Texas 77002)

  • Alexander Popov

    (Waste Management, Inc., 1001 Fannin Street, Houston, Texas 77002)

Abstract

Waste Management (WM) obtains one third of its revenue from landfill disposals and two-thirds from waste-collection services. As most of the revenue comes from collecting trash, improving efficiency in operating the fleet improves the bottom line. After a flurry of acquisitions and a merger with USA Waste, WM found itself with a large fleet of vehicles whose routing, dispatching, maintenance, and management were decentralized. WM recognized that it could reduce operating costs by improving its use of assets. It contracted with the Institute of Information Technology to develop WasteRoute, a comprehensive route-management system that took into account WM's specific routing concerns and provided broad benefits. Initially, the target audience of the system was the dispatchers and indirectly the drivers. Sales and customer service also benefited because WasteRoute integrated the sales, customer service, and operations departments. The system reduced operating costs, provided better customer service, and determined appropriate prices. WM deployed WasteRoute across the nation beginning in March 2003. By the end of 2003, WM had 984 fewer routes, saving $18 million. It estimated that its savings for 2004 due to the reduction will be $44 million. As it extends the system to additional areas, it expects additional route reductions.

Suggested Citation

  • Surya Sahoo & Seongbae Kim & Byung-In Kim & Bob Kraas & Alexander Popov, 2005. "Routing Optimization for Waste Management," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 35(1), pages 24-36, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orinte:v:35:y:2005:i:1:p:24-36
    DOI: 10.1287/inte.1040.0109
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    7. Belien, Jeroen & De Boeck, Liesje & Van Ackere, Jonas, 2011. "Municipal Solid Waste Collection Problems: A Literature Review," Working Papers 2011/34, Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussel, Faculteit Economie en Management.
    8. Gambella, Claudio & Maggioni, Francesca & Vigo, Daniele, 2019. "A stochastic programming model for a tactical solid waste management problem," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 273(2), pages 684-694.
    9. B. Madhu Rao & Petros Xanthopoulos & Qipeng Phil Zheng, 2020. "Case Article—DeLand Crayon Company: An Application of the Traveling Salesman Problem to Production Scheduling with Sequence-Dependent Setup Times," INFORMS Transactions on Education, INFORMS, vol. 20(2), pages 93-98, January.
    10. Wooseung Jang & Huay H. Lim & Thomas J. Crowe & Gail Raskin & Thomas E. Perkins, 2006. "The Missouri Lottery Optimizes Its Scheduling and Routing to Improve Efficiency and Balance," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 36(4), pages 302-313, August.
    11. Vincent F. Yu & Panca Jodiawan & Shih-Wei Lin & Winy Fara Nadira & Anna Maria Sri Asih & Le Nguyen Hoang Vinh, 2024. "Using Simulated Annealing to Solve the Multi-Depot Waste Collection Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Window and Self-Delivery Option," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-22, February.
    12. Wy, Juyoung & Kim, Byung-In & Kim, Seongbae, 2013. "The rollon–rolloff waste collection vehicle routing problem with time windows," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 224(3), pages 466-476.
    13. Benjamin T. Hazen & Joseph B. Skipper & Christopher A. Boone & Raymond R. Hill, 2018. "Back in business: operations research in support of big data analytics for operations and supply chain management," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 270(1), pages 201-211, November.
    14. Qing Li & Xiaoli Wu & Ki Ling Cheung, 2009. "Optimal Policies for Inventory Systems with Separate Delivery-Request and Order-Quantity Decisions," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 57(3), pages 626-636, June.
    15. Markov, Iliya & Varone, Sacha & Bierlaire, Michel, 2016. "Integrating a heterogeneous fixed fleet and a flexible assignment of destination depots in the waste collection VRP with intermediate facilities," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 256-273.
    16. Edoardo Fadda & Luca Gobbato & Guido Perboli & Mariangela Rosano & Roberto Tadei, 2018. "Waste Collection in Urban Areas: A Case Study," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 48(4), pages 307-322, August.
    17. Haifa Jammeli & Majdi Argoubi & Hatem Masri, 2021. "A Bi-objective stochastic programming model for the household waste collection and transportation problem: case of the city of Sousse," Operational Research, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 1613-1639, September.
    18. Gamberini, Rita & Gebennini, Elisa & Manzini, Riccardo & Ziveri, Andrea, 2010. "On the integration of planning and environmental impact assessment for a WEEE transportation network—A case study," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 54(11), pages 937-951.

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