A Logistics Planning Tool for E-Waste Collection: Streamlining Sustainability and Efficiency

Abstract

We have developed a vehicle routing problem (VRP) optimization tool aimed at improving the efficiency of e-waste collection and logistics systems. Given the geospatial dispersion of electronic waste (e-waste), an effective reverse logistics system is crucial for successful recycling efforts. Our tool combines guided local search and k-opt algorithms to optimize travel routes for fleets of heterogeneous vehicles. To ensure accurate calculations, the tool utilizes the Open Street Map API, which provides actual road network data for calculating travel distances and time. Furthermore, we have incorporated a comprehensive emission model that accurately quantifies vehicular emissions. By doing so, we can generate optimized solutions with an average optimality gap of 2.2% compared to known best solutions of benchmark VRPs within a time limit of 30 seconds. It also generates an interactive map showing color-coded vehicle routes and collecting nodes' information. The effectiveness of the tool has been tested with real data from our industry partner. Out developed VRP optimization tool comes with a graphical user interface that can provide optimized routes and quantify-environmental emissions, actual travel distance, and cost within a reasonable amount of time. It has been released as an open-source software. The tool can potentially be utilized for minimizing carbon dioxide emissions from commercial vehicles to mitigate greenhouse gas impacts.