Abstract:
The amount and complexity of municipal solid waste is on the rise globally, as economic
development, urbanization, and improved living standards in cities continue to increase, all at the
detriment of the natural environment. Improper solid waste management is a problem in most
cities in developing countries, endangering human and animal health and causing economic,
environmental and biological damage. The primary goal of this study is to evaluate the municipal
solid waste management system of Birbir town and identify an optimized route. Both primary and
secondary data were utilized to achieve this objective. The samples were collected from 135
households for 7 days from selected residential, commercial, institutional, public bin as well as
street sweeping using a systematic random sampling technique. In this study, a GIS-based method
was developed to optimize waste collection and transportation of solid waste to disposal point.
According to the study findings, the town's solid waste generation rate was determined to 0.128
kg per capita per day, with a total daily quantity of 3.83 tons and an annual quantity of 1399.42
tons, falling within the typical range for urban towns in Ethiopia. This suggests that a substantial
portion of respondents, 53.5%, engage in illegal disposal of waste, while 46.5% of households in
the town deliver their solid waste to micro and small enterprises that offer waste collection
services. Successful SWM systems incorporate public education on waste reduction and proper
disposal techniques, motivating communities to actively participate. The study findings suggest
that the municipal solid waste management service in the Birbir town is currently inadequate,
specifically in terms of container usage and spatial coverage. To improve efficiency in waste
transportation routes and bin allocation, Arc GIS based analysis is recommended for the study
area. This optimization can help reduce distance travel and minimize time taken for waste
collection. The function that considers several factors, including the road network, the shortest
distance, and the social and environmental consequences, ultimately determines the best option.
The proposed scheme has shown that it can reduce the total waste collection path length by over
13.61% through optimization.
