Improving municipal solid waste collection using spatial data

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Historically, waste management engineers have collected very little information about their municipal solid waste collection operations. The installation of global positioning system (GPS) data recorders and other automatic vehicle location (AVL) systems on solid waste collection vehicles has changed that situation significantly. In 2003, the applicant began working with the City of Hamilton to collect AVL data from five different waste collection vehicles operating on a variety of different collection routes. This work has demonstrated several practical uses for the collected data, but it is also clear that much more can be done with this rich data source. The purpose of the proposed research is to assist municipal solid waste managers with both their day-to-day operational decisions and their long-term planning needs by developing decision support tools for managing solid waste collection operations. The specific objectives of this research are: