Smart logistics of organic waste collection in cities

Waste management is a growing problem all around the world with implications to society, environment, health and economy. In this context, the waste is considered as the last step in the consuming process. However, a smart waste management is possible by the generation of value from the garbage and the optimization of collection routes, landfills location and the determination of the transport fleet. This article addresses the problem of value generation from organic waste in cities, which is used for the compost generation, biofuels (as an alternative to fossil fuels) and specialized landfills. The objective of this paper is to develop a conceptual decision support system (DSS) that allows efficient linkages between large organic garbage generators inside the cities (e.g. restaurants, health and educational institutions, food markets) with organic waste consumers, located outside the urban boundaries, who are responsible for recycling and generating value from the garbage (e.g. farms, special landfills, compost and biofuels). The DSS proposes both collection and delivery routes in combination with the fleet required where the information can be updated in order to reflect changes in supply and demand. Because of that, there is a benefit to the waste management and a reduction in the volume of organic waste in municipal landfills. The approach originality is based in the integration of suppliers, demands and transport services in a collaborative DSS that combines different techniques and theories. The managerial implications are related with new waste value and its value chain, with new services in the decision process with impact in the sustainability.