VI Solid Waste (2}-groups 5,6

A. Collection of Refuse

B. Generation of Refuse

C. Reuse and Recycling of Materials from Refuse

D. Combustion of Refuse

E. Ultimate Disposal of Refuse: Sanitary Landfills

F. Reducing the Generation of Refuse-Source Reduction

G. Integrated Solid Waste Management

502

Collection of Refuse 481

It doesn’t sound like much—4.6 lb/day—until it is multiplied by the total number of people in the United
States.1 Suddenly 1.4 trillion lb of garbage per day sounds like what it is, a humongous lot of trash.

What is to be done with these solid residues from our effluent society? The search for an answer
represents a monstrous challenge to the engineering profession.

Common ordinary household and commercial waste, called refuse or municipal solid waste (MSW), is
the subject of this chapter. Technically, refuse is made up of garbage, which is food waste, and rubbish,
almost everything else in your garbage can. Trash is larger items, such as old refrigerators, tree limbs,
mattresses, and other bulky items, that are not commonly collected with the household refuse. A very
important subcategory of solid waste, called hazardous waste, is covered in the next chapter.

The municipal solid waste problem can be separated into three steps:

1. collection and transportation of household, commercial, and industrial solid waste

2. recovery of useful fractions from this material
3. disposal of the residues into the environment.

Collection of Refuse

In many locations in the United States and other countries, solid waste from households and
commercial establishments is collected by trucks. Sometimes these are open-bed trucks that carry trash
or bagged refuse, but more often these vehicles are packers, trucks that use hydraulic rams to compact
the refuse to reduce its volume and make it possible for the truck to carry larger loads (Figure 14.1).
Commercial and industrial collections are facilitated by the use of containers (dumpsters or roll-offs) that
are either emptied into the truck by using a hydraulic mechanism or carried by the truck to the disposal
site (Figure 14.2 on the next page). Vehicles for collecting separated materials, such as newspaper,
aluminum cans, and glass bottles, are also used (Figure 14.3 on the next page).
 Household collection of mixed refuse is usually by a packer truck with one or two workers: one
driver and one loader. These workers dump the refuse from the garbage cans into the truck and then
drive the full truck to the disposal area. The entire operation is a study in inefficiency and hazardous
work conditions. The safety record of solid waste collection personnel is by far the worst of any group of
workers (three times as bad as coal miners, for example).

Various modifications to this collection method have been implemented to cut collection costs
and reduce accidents, including the use of compactors and garbage grinders in the kitchen and
semiautomated and fully automated collection. The householder is given a large plastic can, often 60–90
gal, and is asked to roll the can to the curb every week for collection. The truck is equipped with a
hydraulic lift or mechanical arm that empties the can into the truck (Figure 14.4 and Table 14.1).

Other alternate systems have been developed for collecting refuse, one especially interesting
one being a system of underground pneumatic pipes. The pneumatic collection system at Disney World
in Florida has collection stations scattered throughout the park that receive the refuse, and the
pneumatic pipes deliver the waste to a central processing plant. In areas with low population density,
drop-off, or convenience, centers are common (Figure 14.5 on the next page). They are also common for
collecting recyclables.

The selection of a proper route for collection vehicles, known as route optimization, can result
in significant savings to the hauler. The problem of route optimization was first addressed in 1736 by the
famous Swiss mathematician Leonard Euler (pronounced “oiler”) (1707–1783). He was asked to design a
parade route for Köningsberg such that the parade would not cross any bridge over the River Pregel
more than once and would return to its starting place. Euler’s problem is pictured in Figure 14.6 on the
next page.

Not only did Euler show that such a route was impossible for the king’s parade, but he
generalized the problem by specifying what conditions are necessary to establish such a route, now
known as an Euler’s tour. The objective of truck routing is to create an Euler’s tour, wherein a street is
traversed only once and deadheading—traveling twice down the same street—is eliminated. An Euler’s
tour is also known as a unicoursal route because the traveler courses each street only once.

Travel takes place along specific links(streets and bridges in Euler’s problem) that connect nodes
(intersections). An Euler’s tour is possible only if the number of links entering all the nodes is even
numbered. The nodes in Figure 14.6B are A through D, and all of them have an odd number of links, so
the parade the king wanted was not possible. Euler’s principle is illustrated by the example below

EXAMPLE

Problem

A street network is shown in Figure 14.7A. If refuse from homes along these streets is to be collected by
a vehicle that intends to travel down each street only once (solid waste being collected along both sides
of the street, a situation that would typically occur in a residential neighborhood), is an Euler’s tour
possible? If refuse is to be collected only on the block face (refuse is collected on only one side of a
street, a situation that would typically occur in heavy traffic with large streets), is an Euler’s tour
possible?
Solution

The street network is reduced to a series of links and nodes in Figure 14.7B for the case wherein the
truck travels down a street only once. Note that eight of the nodes have an odd number of links, so an
Euler’s tour is impossible.

In the second case the links are shown in Figure 14.7C, and all of the nodes have an even number of
links, indicating that an Euler’s tour is possible. But what is it?

Computer programs are available for developing the most efficient route possible, but often these are
not used because:

 it takes too much time to write and debug the computer program, or the available software is
not appropriate for the specific situation
 it’s possible to develop a very good solution (maybe not the absolute optimal solution) by
commonsense means
 the collection crews will change the routes around to suit themselves anyway!

Common sense routing is sometimes called heuristic routing, which means the same thing. Some
sensible rules of thumb, when followed, will go a long way toward producing the best collection solution.
For example:

 try to avoid heavy traffic

 try to always make right-hand turns
 try to travel in long, straight lines
 try not to leave a one-way street as an exit from a node.

Most of these rules are, like the name suggests, common sense. Tremendous savings can often be
realized by seemingly minor modifications to the collection system because this is usually the greatest
cost center for refuse management.

There is a point at which the cost for individual collection vehicles to travel directly to the disposal site
(known as direct haul) costs more than to use a transfer system (Figure 14.8). A transfer system consists
of a transfer station, where waste is consolidated, and transfer vehicles, which are tractor-trailers or rail
cars. The transfer vehicles can carry a much larger load than the packer trucks.

GENERATION REFUSE