Efficient Solid Waste Management in Prai Industrial Area through GIS using Dijkstra and Travelling Salesman Problem Algorithms

The fourth industrial revolution (IR 4.0) supports new solid waste management and effective routing system for collection and transport of solid wastes, especially in achieving Penang 2030 vision to become a pollution free smart city. This study will enhance Seberang Perai Municipal Council (MBSP) solid waste routing system in Prai industrial area by implementing Dijkstra and Travelling Salesman Problem (TSP) algorithms using Geographic Information System version 10.1. The route optimization study involved 24 companies in Phase I, Phase II, and Phase IV of Prai industrial area. The authority is currently using only one route to transfer the waste-to-waste transfer station. The Dijkstra algorithm can optimize alternative route 1 distance by 19.74% whereby alternative route 2 ended up with extra distance by 3.73% compared to existing single route used by MBSP. The forward Dijkstra algorithm involves single direction route with cleaning depot (source) as starting point and waste transfer station (destination) as ending point. TSP algorithm is having advantage with return direction route. The alternative route 1 evaluated through TSP algorithm gave shorter distance by 6.61% compared to existing route. Alternative route 1 evaluated through Dijkstra algorithm is potential to save fuel cost by 19.75%. Existing route carries 9.2% per year of transportation carbon emission level. The alternative route 1 assessed through Dijkstra and TSP algorithms reported lower carbon emission level at 7.4% per year and 8.6% per year, respectively. Findings of this study can help in improving MBSP’s routing system and realize Penang 2030 vision.

Optimizing locations of waste transfer stations in rural areas

Many studies have considered the location of rural waste transfer stations, but most have omitted the impact of transportation network conditions. Traffic accessibility must be considered in optimizing the location of rural waste transfer stations, which is an important difference from the location of rural waste transfer stations. On the basis of previous studies, this study will consider the impact of traffic network on the optimization locations of waste transfer station in the rural areas. The objective of this study was to ensure the minimum Euclidean distance between the waste transfer station and the population center is the maximum, minimize the garbage transportation cost of each population center, construction costs for waste transfer stations, construction and upgrade costs for roads on a traffic network. A multi-objective facility location-network design model and an improved multi-objective simulated annealing algorithm was used to solve the problem. A detailed practical case study was used to illustrate the application of the proposed mathematical model. The results show that transportation network plays an important role in facility location optimization, and the improvement of traffic network conditions can greatly reduce waste transportation costs.

Research on Optimization of Healthcare Waste Management System Based on Green Governance Principle in the COVID-19 Pandemic

At present, strategies for controlling the COVID-19 pandemic have made significant and strategic strides; however, and the large quantities of healthcare treatment waste have become another important “battlefield”. For example, in Wuhan, the production rate of healthcare waste in hospitals, communities, temporary storage, and other units was much faster than the disposal rate during the COVID-19 pandemic. Improving the efficiency of healthcare waste transfer and treatment has become an important task for government health and environmental protection departments at all levels. Based on the situation of healthcare waste disposal in Wuhan during the critical period of the pandemic, this paper analyzes and studies green governance principles and summarizes the problems that exist in the current healthcare waste management system. Through the establishment of temporary storage facilities along transit routes, digital simulation and bionic experiments were carried out in the Hongshan District of Wuhan to improve the efficiency of healthcare waste transfer. Furthermore, this study discusses the coordination and cooperation of government, hospitals, communities, and other departments in the healthcare waste disposal process and provides guiding suggestions for healthcare waste disposal nationwide in order to deal with potential risks and provide effective references in all regions.