Impact on logistics cost by adopting decentralized solid waste management

Abstract

Rapid urbanization and increase in standard of living provides direct impact on waste generation. Urban local bodies face various challenges in handling their solid waste. Various schemes like Swachh Bharat, Smart cities, and AMRUT, etc. are focusing on improving sanitation and public health. Centralized solid waste management (CSWMS) is a tool majorly used to achieve waste disposal problems. In CSWMS, waste management solutions are provided at one centralized waste management center located at the outskirts of the city where the collected waste is transported and further processed in the form of composting, Refuse Derived Fuel, Bio-CNG etc. Now with Improvement in SWM technologies Decentralized solid waste management (DSWMs) can be an alternative tool to overcome solid waste problem in Indian cities. In DSWMs, waste can be reduced at various levels: - Zonal level, ward level, neighborhood level, Household level etc. waste is collected, transported, and processed in a decentralized manner. DSWMs has potential to segregate and reduce the waste at source, resulting in decrease of transportation cost, associated emissions, intermediate storage expenses, water pollution at waste storage sites and help in creation of opportunities for informal workers. Logistics cost can be reduced by adopting DSWMs tool, which will help the Municipalities efficiently tackle solid waste disposal. Literature studies are carried out in 3 major categories: Research papers, Government schemes and Case Studies. Various Indian cities and organizations are adopting DSWMs tools to reduce the burden of waste with the help of new technologies. Innovative DSWMs action plans can be adopted in phases to replace traditional systems. DSWMs is currently practiced with the help of NGO’s, Private companies, and Government initiatives. The study area selected for this research paper is the Bhopal Municipal Corporation located in Madhya Pradesh (which has been ranked as the number one state in solid waste management in India). Amongst the cities of Madhya Pradesh, Indore has been ranked as the cleanest city, followed by Bhopal as the second cleanest city. Choosing a city with good solid waste management practices is essential for conducting a comparative study of logistics costs in solid waste management. In this study, primary and secondary data have been collected from Bhopal city to develop a centralized cost flow model of the existing system, for each logistics stage of the waste flow. The study involves developing four scenarios of decentralization approach, which includes DSWMs sites at Transfer station Level, Ward level, Neighbourhood level, and Household level. Each scenario is further divided into sub-scenarios based on the percentage of waste treated at the DSWMs site, ranging from 5% to 40%. A detailed cost flow model is developed for each of the above scenarios and sub-scenarios to conduct a comparative analysis of total cost, total expense, time, cost of transportation, and the number of Vehicle kilometres traveled (VKT). The results of the study will help understand the effectiveness of DSWMs in Bhopal and identify what level of decentralization and at what percentage the city can work more efficiently in handling its solid waste disposal.