Simulation modelling for the sizing of solid waste receiving facilities

Solid waste receiving facilities such as recycling centres, transfer stations, incinerators, and landfills may experience significant traffic congestion and waste storage buildup problems due to the random arrival patterns of waste delivery vehicles. The provision of an increased number of service channels and increased waste storage area will reduce the congestion and buildup problems and the associated costs, but will also incur increased capital and operating costs. A simulation modelling approach for evaluating system performance is described in this paper, and the modelling approach is applied to representative Canadian waste receiving facilities. A minimum cost approach is implemented to determine the preferred number of service channels for one application example. The sizing methodology developed should be useful to waste management engineers and planners for both the design of planned solid waste receiving facilities and the operational analysis of existing facilities for a range of projected conditions. Key words: waste management, facility sizing, simulation modelling.