Subregion Districting to Optimize the Municipal Solid Waste Collection Network: A Case Study

This paper proposes the implementation of a subregion district model to optimize the collection of solid waste generated in the residential and commercial zones of the Ibarra city in Ecuador. The work begins with a review of cases and methodologies previously applied. Later, the initial condition was determined and the optimum number of districts or sub-areas in which the zones should be divided, starting from the model proposed by the Pan American Health Organization, The City Development and Zoning Plan, and some guidelines given by the Department of Social Development of Mexico in the year 1997. Furthermore, the homogeneous distribution of the districts on the city was also carried out taking into account of factors such as: the components of the collection network, area of each district, current and available road network, surface slopes, waste production rates, collection frequency, and optimal vehicle fleet dedicated to harvesting operations. As support tools for the analyses carried out QGIS 2.18.2, MS-Excel, Global Mapper and LingoV17 were used. Finally, it proposes an optimal distribution of the districts in which the waste collection crews would operate in the city.