COLLECTION OPERATION
1 Movement of collection crew
In cultures such as India,
Bangladesh, etc., solid waste collection is assigned to the lowest social
group. More often, the collection crew member accepts the job as a temporary
position or stopgap arrangement, while looking for other jobs that are
considered more respectable.
Apart from
this cultural problem,
the attitude of
some SWM authorities
affects
collection operation. For
example, some authorities still think that the collection of solid waste is
mechanical, and therefore, the collection crew does not need any training to
acquire special kills. As a result, when a new waste collector starts
working, he or she is sent to the field
without firm instruction concerning his or her
duties, responsibilities and
required skills. For an effective collection operation, the collection team must
properly be trained. The
collection crew and the driver of the collection vehicle must, for example,
work as a team, and this is important to maintain the team morale and a sense
of social responsibility among these workers.
The difference may be one or two
minutes per collection stop, but it matters with the number of stops the crew
will take in a working shift. Multiplying the minutes by the total number of
crew working and labour cost depicts the amount of labour hours lost in terms
of
monetary value.
Generally, familiarity
of the crew with the collection
area improves efficiency. For example, the driver becomes familiar
with the traffic jams, potholes and other obstructions that he or she must
avoid. The crew is aware of the location of the containers and the vehicle
stops. It is, therefore, important to assign each crew specific areas of
responsibility. Working together
also establishes an understanding of the
strong and weak points of
the team members and efficient
work sequences. The collection operation
must also observe a strict time schedule. Testing of new routes, new gadgets and vehicles
is best carried out first in the
laboratory and later in a pilot area. Testing of a new sequence using the whole
service area could result in disorder and breakdown of the solid waste
collection system. Studies show that it takes two hours to recover for every
hour of a failed system.
2 Collection vehicle routing
Efficient
routing and re-routing
of solid waste collection vehicles can help decrease
costs by reducing
the labour expended for
collection. Routing procedures usually consist of the following two separate
components:
(i)
Macro-routing: Macro-routing, also referred to as route-balancing, consists
of dividing the total collection
area into routes, sized in such a way as to represent a day's collection
for each crew.
The size of
each route depends on the amount
of waste collected
per stop, distance
between stops, loading
time and traffic
conditions. Barriers, such
as railroad embankments,
rivers and roads with heavy competing
traffic, can be
used to divide route territories. As much as
possible, the size and shape of route
areas should be balanced within the limits imposed by such barriers.
(ii)
Micro-routing: Using the
results of the macro-routing analysis, micro- routing can
define the specific
path that each
crew and collection
vehicle will take each collection
day. Results of micro-routing analyses can then be used to readjust macro-
routing decisions. Micro-routing analyses should also include input and review
from experienced collection
drivers.
Collection
Vehicle Route
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