A variable neighborhood search for the multi-period collection of recyclable materials

A variable neighborhood search for the multi-period collection of recyclable materials

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Article ID: iaor201530435
Volume: 249
Issue: 2
Start Page Number: 540
End Page Number: 550
Publication Date: Mar 2016
Journal: European Journal of Operational Research
Authors: ,
Keywords: combinatorial optimization, scheduling, heuristics
Abstract:

We consider an approach for scheduling the multi‐period collection of recyclable materials. Citizens can deposit glass and paper for recycling in small cubes located at several collection points. The cubes are emptied by a vehicle that carries two containers and the material is transported to two treatment facilities. We investigate how the scheduling of emptying and transportation should be done in order to minimize the operation cost, while providing a high service level and ensuring that capacity constraints are not violated. We develop a heuristic solution method for solving the daily planning problem with uncertain accretion rate for materials by considering a rolling time horizon of a few days. We apply a construction heuristic in the first period and re‐optimize the solution every subsequent period with a variable neighborhood search. Computational experiments are conducted on real life data.

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