Solid waste collection

Mentore Vaccari, Francesco Vitali

CeTAmb, UNIVERSITY OF BRESCIA

 Stages in the SWM system

Waste collection
2

Common problems with collection services in DCs:

 Waste is often abandoned along roads, in squares, etc.
 Collection service is slow and causes traffic congestion
 Collection is not carried out frequently enough
 Waste pickers and vectors spread waste around the collection points
 Waste workers have direct contact with the waste
 Vehicles are not maintained properly
 Householders are initially reticent to pay a fee
 Stages in the SWM system

Waste collection
3
In Developing Countries typically one to two third of the solid waste
generated remains uncollected

Main reasons:
high costs of collection compared to municipal
budget

no mechanisms of financing and cost recovery

poor institutional capacities

growth of illegal settlements

difficult access for “conventional” means to some

areas
 Nature of waste

What does the nature of waste affect?

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POTENTIAL FOR
RECOVERY
STORAGE

COLLECTION
EQUIPMENT AND
WORKFORCE
METHOD AND POTENTIAL
FREQUENCY OF ENVIRONMENTAL
COLLECTION IMPACT
 Stages in the SWM system

Waste collection
5

Primary
collection
 Stages in the SWM system

Waste collection
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Secondary
collection
 Alternatives for MSW collection
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Collection by street
containers

Door to door
collection

Public organizations (municipality, CBOs, NGOs, …)

Private companies
Informal sector
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SOURCE SEGREGATION AND

DOOR TO DOOR COLLECTION
 Collection techniques
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Three basic types of collection techniques:

1. Human powered collection equipments

• pushcarts, wheel barrows, two-
wheeled dollies with baskets
• useful in neighbourhoods with
limited access
• good ways are necessary for this
type of equipment to be effective
2. Animal powered collection equipment
• horse, mule or oxen-drawn carts
• applicable in cities with mainly low-
moving traffic
 Collection techniques
10

3. Motorised collection vehicles

• tractors with trailers
• trucks which lift portable
containers (skips)
• tipper trucks
• compactor trucks
 Collection techniques
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ATTENTION:

Collection frequency is affected by refuse characteristics and climatic

conditions
↑ organic material ↑ frequency
↑ temperature and humidity ↑ frequency

Loading height of equipments < 1.5 m

Waste collectors have to be provided with gloves, masks and protective

clothing (to avoid skin and intestinal infections)

Waste mechanical compaction is often not necessary

↑ organic material ↑ density
↑ paper ↑ density
↑ glass ↑ density
 Solutions for primary collection
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Design example:
We are designing a handcart. It shall carry a maximum waste load of 150 kg. In the
handcart the waste shall be kept in bins for easy unloading. A full bin shall not
weigh more than 25 kg. An empty bin weighs 3 kg. The average waste density
(kg/m3) is: 400 kg/m3.
• a) How much volume capacity (m3) does the handcart need to have?
• b) What is the maximal capacity of each bin?
• c) How many bins are necessary in the handcart?
• d) What other factors assure „appropriate technology“ of the handcart ?

Max. possible handcart volume = 150 kg / 400 kg/m3 = 0.375 m3

Max. possible waste weight per bin = max. total weight – bin weight= 25 kg – 3 kg = 22 kg
Volume of each bin = waste weight / waste density = 22 kg / 400 kg/m3 = 0.055 m3 = 55 liters
Number of bins necessary = total waste load / waste weight per bin = 150 kg / 22 kg = 6.8 bins

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 Primary collection
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Collection routes (quality of road, traffic) and rain

Tyre width
 Primary collection
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Procedures for waste loading

Do not forget rakes, shovels,

protective clothes, …
 MSW collection points
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Portable Fixed
 Transfer station
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Facilitate the waste loading

 Transfer station
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Facilitate the waste loading

Elevated floor
Ramp for
to facilitate
wheelbarrows
waste loading
into trucks
 Transfer station
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"technology" includes operation and management

 Transfer station
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If possible, choose street containers, skips, …

Briefer loading/
discharging times

Reduced contact
between waste and
workers

Moved easily in the

territory
Transfer station
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… but trucks with crane are

necessary
 Transfer station
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Attention to: choice of materials (corrosion), constructive details,

location (no depressed or soft areas)
 Transfer station
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Height of skips (for children)

Transfer station
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Skips need to be emptied…

 SW transfer stations
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Not only places where waste is passed from one form of

transport to another
but
Places where waste can be processed, separated and recycled

By means of these activities, the quantity of waste

requiring ultimate disposal can be greatly reduced
EXAMPLE OF TRANSFER STATIONS IN ASIA

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 26

An improved transfer station – Hyderabad (India)

 Stages in the SWM system
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Waste collection: vehicles

Secondary
collection
Collection means
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Attention to waste density and

composition

Attention to complicated technologies:

1. deterioration (sand)
2. maintenance and spare parts
Collection means
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Flying materials
Collection means
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Quarters accessibility
 How to size collection equipments
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Population = 20,000 inh
Specific waste production = 0.3 kg/inh*d
Density = 200 kg/m3
Waste production = 0.3 kg/inh*d * 20,000 inh = 6 t/d
Waste volume = 6 t/d / 0.2 t/m3 = 30 m3/d
Specific load:
Wheelbarrow = 1-2 m3/collector*d 15-30 collectors with wheelbarrow
Donkey cart = 3-6 m3/unit*d 5-10 units
Tractor + trailer = 5 m3/load*d 6 loads (2 tractor * 3 loads)
Skip = 3 m3/unit*d 10 skips (and 1-2 trucks)
Tipper truck = 10 m3/load*d 3 loads (1 truck * 3 loads)
Compacting truck = 30 m3/ load*d 1 load (1 truck*1 load)
↑ Specific loads ↑ Investment costs
↑ maintenance costs (mechanical equip.)
↓ labour costs
SUSTAINABILITY OF THE SWM SYSTEM!!