ABSTRACT
Solid waste collection systems which are cost-effective, responsive to customer's needs, and consistent with and supportive of the overall goals of a community's solid waste management program, can be operated by municipal authorities or managers of private companies. Mathematical models exist which can identify an optimal location for a solid waste facility based on estimates of costs incurred when waste is transported from the sources where it is generated to the facility location. Once reliable estimates of waste quantities are in hand and goals have been determined, a number of specific factors must be addressed. They include frequency of collection, set-out locations, type of containers, type of collection vehicles, and crew size. The solid waste collection and transportation component was viewed as an independent subsystem within the larger solid waste collection and disposal system. Drop-off centers are often used in rural areas where residential collection services are unavailable.
