2015 International Conference on Computational Intelligence and Communication Networks
A Review of Solid Waste Management Techniques using GIS and Other Technologies
Priyanka Shrivastava1, Shivangi Mishra2
Centre of Remote Sensing and its application
Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology
Bhopal, India
e-mail: piya_sj@yahoo.co.in1,
shivangicivil0038@gmail.com2
Abstract Solid waste management has been a leading
concern for all the developing countries. It poses serious
threats in terms of environmental damage, health hazards and
economic cascade. There has to be apt planning for proper
waste management by analyzing the area and its waste
situation. This paper deals with, how Geographical
Information System and other technologies like RFID, GPS
etc. can be used as a decision support tool for proper planning
of solid waste management. This paper aims to review and
compare various GIS models suggested for solid waste
management. The study would upgrade the solid waste
management reform, boost its management and efficiency to
ensure the practical solutions for solid waste collection
process, monitoring and management for green environment.
Keywords- Solid waste management, geographical
information system, RFID, GPS, GSM.
I. INTRODUCTION
Solid waste management is one of the basic and fundamental
services provided by municipal authorities in the developing
country to keep cities clean and hygienic. However, it is
among the most poorly rendered service by the authorities. The
system in progress is unscientific, inefficient and outdated for
its management and working. In the developing countries,
waste management is a serious issue as rise in urbanization and
economic development is leading to major growth in quantities
of waste materials. The environment pollution and the waste of
resources caused by unmanaged solid waste is alarming and
hence has become a very sensitive issue. Many urban areas
lack basic and effective waste handling resulting in open
dumping, burning or burying of waste causing serious
environmental issues. If the current situation is not handled
properly and in a planned manner, it would lead to severe
repercussions on a local and global level. Waste is a dangerous
health hazard and can cause spread of deadly infectious
diseases. It basically works as a cycle effecting everything
around our ecosphere. Unattended waste lying around invites
flies, mosquitoes, rats etc. leading to unhygienic living
conditions. These creatures then cause serious diseases like
malaria, diarrhea, jaundice, plague etc. Animals grazing on this
waste or near such areas can pass on diseases via food chain.
Also the waste not being collected can clog storm water run off
leading to formation of sluggish water bodies that become
breeding space for disease causing agents. Waste thrown near
water bodies like
978-1-5090-0076-0/15 $31.00 2015 IEEE
DOI 10.1109/CICN.2015.281
S.K.Katiyar3
Civil Engineering Department,
Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology
Bhopal, India
e-mail: sunil64@gmail.com3,katiyarsk@manit.ac.in3
sea, lakes, rivers etc. results in contaminating water
supplies as well as whole aquatic chain.
To subdue the increase in waste we need to develop an
efficient, innovative and robust solid waste management
system that can elevate the present system as well as be time
and cost effective. This can only be achieved by incorporating
the latest technologies in the existing system and by optimal
planning at each step and level. Geographical information
system is one of the emerging technologies that have huge
contribution in planning and management of waste. GIS
integrates hardware, software, and data for collecting,
managing, analyzing, and showing all forms of geographically
referenced information in a computer-based system [6]. Its
major advantage is that it gives a visual output of data in terms
of maps etc. that helps in recognizing patterns, trends and
relationships that may not be clear in tabular or written form of
data. A GIS is different from other information systems,
because it integrates common database operations such as
query and statistical analysis with the advantages of visual and
geographic analysis through maps
[7]. It helps in providing a decision support system for
proper planning of solid waste management system.
In this paper we will review 5 such proposed models for
the solid waste management incorporating GIS & other
technologies like RFIDs, GSM etc.
II. METHODOLOGY
Solid waste management basically does the collection of
waste from the source and perform various steps for its
removal either by treating the waste or finally disposing it
on a landfill site. The primary processes involved in solid
waste management are: Collection of waste, Transportation
of waste and Disposal or processing of waste.
Collection of the generated waste from the source is a very
crucial step in solid waste management. Effective collection of
solid waste and its segregation decides how well solid waste is
managed. Usually collection of waste is done manually by the
workers of the municipal cooperation. Transportation of waste
from source is usually done with the help of bullock carts,
three-wheelers, tractors, trucks etc. depending upon the type of
road network. Many cities nowadays use hydraulic vehicles
for the collection of waste. Most of these vehicles are old and
open. Usually the waste is
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loaded in these vehicles manually. The waste collected is
then emptied in a transfer station or material processing
facility or a landfill disposal site.
Disposal of waste is the most ignored aspect of solid
waste management and the current practices in use are
highly unscientific. Most of the municipal authorities dump
the solid waste gathered on a dumping site or yard within or
outside the city. These sites are not covered and hence
become breeding space for flies, rats and other disease
causing agents. The leachate i.e. the liquid formed through
the rotting of organic waste produced in these sites
penetrate through the ground and pollutes the underground
water posing a serious threat to health and environment.
III. REVIEW
A. Solid waste management planning using GIS and RS
technologies case study Aurangabad city, India.
The model proposed in this paper helps in planning the
allocation of waste bins and checks the municipal waste bin
location suitability as per local area constraints. The case
study area here is the Indian City Aurangabad, situated in
Maharashtra state. The data used is a satellite image with
15-meter resolution Panchromatic Landsat Enhanced
Thematic Mapper. The vector data is prepared by
overlapping the digitized municipal maps with this satellite
image to achieve precision in data.
[1] started with analyzing the existing waste bin locations.
By doing this [1] checked whether there are bins at
convenient proximity of the users and also found areas
where there are no waste bins at close proximity of users.
Figure 1. Conceptual Model
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Then classification of bins is carried out based on the land
use. Sufficient buffer was created for sensitive areas like
water bodies so the runoff from waste does not create any
environmental damage. Also the land use helped in creating
a considerable distance from building like hospitals,
schools, religious places etc. Further [1] segregated the
waste into two types: recyclable and composite. The areas
identified for recyclable waste through land use
classification were allotted recyclable waste collection bins
resulting in better segregation of waste.
This proposal is a very convenient and effective solution
for planning of waste bins and should be implemented as
the first step for the solid waste management. It increases
the convenience of the users and also checks on the waste
bins hampering the environment.
B. GIS Integrated Waste Production Modelling
The model proposed in this paper provides an innovative
approach for identifying the number of waste bins and their
respective locations. The case study is based on a small area of
Atticas, a suburb of Athens. The data used is by ground based
temporal analysis and then design of the spatial temporal
geodatabase. Ground based studies in performed to get the
population density and the population distribution. The daily
waste production is also derived keeping in mind parameters
like commercial units of waste production etc. based on land
use/type. All this data is then introduced in the spatial temporal
database. This data is then analyzed by the data modeling
engine, a sub system which returns a final map with the
appropriate number and location of bins.
This model also considers the road network and
inaccessible locations where the waste loading trucks
cannot reach. Keeping all the above points in mind, the
final waste loading points are redistributed and number of
bins is derived.
This proposal is a good alternative to random distribution of
the waste bins but it does not consider factors like type of
waste generated e.g. recyclable, composite etc. which may
further improve the system.
C. Application of Geographic Information System to
Solid Waste Management
The model proposed in this paper provides a web based
solution for the planning, monitoring and management of
the solid waste management. The case study is carried out
on the area of Ondo state, Nigeria. The data is collected by
interviewing municipal officials and residents. The analysis
of the present waste situation of the case study area and the
survey is used to create the initial database.
The proposed system uses an internet based platform for
management and monitoring of waste collection,
transportation and disposal. The system is based on client
server architecture. The system aims at providing proper
allocation and relocation of waste bins, checks for
unsuitability and proximity convenience to users. The web
application will be used by three different users: the
administration, the management and the citizens. Also the web
application acts as an interface between the citizens and
municipal authorities providing a platform to communicate.
The model is implemented on windows compatible pc and is
developed using c#, ASP.NET on a .NET framework with

Figure 3. Architecture of solid waste monitoring and management system

central database where it can be easily monitored. GIS and

Figure 2. System Architecture
backend powered by Microsoft SQLSERVER. The system
is designed to run on all platforms that have a browser
installed.
This proposal is an innovative approach for managing solid
waste. It is cost effective and also provides a real time
platform for citizen and municipal authority
communication to deal with grievances, feedback etc.
D. Soild Waste Monitoring and Management using RFID,
GIS and GSM
The model proposed in this paper is also a web based
solution for real time monitoring and management of solid
waste. It is a client server architecture. It incorporates
RFIDs, GPS, GSM & GIS technologies. It basically deals
with collection and transportation of the waste from the
source to the destination which can be landfill site or any
other transfer station.
RFID plays a very important part in this system. It helps in
overcoming the manual recording work which the truck
driver does. The RFID tags are attached on the bins which
contains all the data logs and the RFID reader and antenna
is mounted on the truck. When the truck reaches waste bin
RFID tag would be detected by the RFID reader and all the
the information will be sent via GSM which will be
mapped on the GIS map. This process will be fully
automatic and will require no interference of the driver. The
vehicle location is collected using GPS and is stored in
GSM is chosen for communication between the server and
vehicle position tracking. The GIS monitoring terminal will
receive all the data and would help in real time monitoring
of the system. Further it finds shortest possible route to the
destination thus reducing the fuel cost making the system
cost effective.
The proposed system is a good alternative to current
system of solid waste management. It is cost effective,
environment friendly and provides real time information. It
can be made more effective if planning of waste bins is
done prior to collection, it will have a better impact on the
management of solid waste.
E. Solid Waste Monitoring and Management using RFID,
GPS and Camera
The model proposed in this paper is an advancement of the
above model with an addition of Camera. It is a web based
solution and it incorporates RFIDs, GPS, GPRS, Camera &
GIS technologies. Here it deals not only with collection and
transportation of the waste, it also estimates the total waste
generated.
This system uses LR RFID tag. LFs large radio frequency
wavelength is not absorbed by moisture making it water
resistant and ideal for highly humid and rainy weather.
These tag contain data regarding the bin i.e. serial number
etc., mounted on the waste bins. The RFID reader is
mounted on the Truck. When the truck comes closer to the
waste bin, RFID reader communicates with the RFID tag
and captures the data stored about the waste bin and sends it
to the control server using GPRS.
The additional feature of this model is the camera mounted

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Figure 4. Architecture of solid waste monitoring and management system
on the top of the truck. The camera used is a low resolution
RGB camera that can cover 3m around the bin. It captures
the image of the waste bin and its surrounding twice in the
whole process. First image is captured before emptying the
bin and the second image is captured after emptying the
waste bin. These images are then sent to the control server
where they are analyzed. These images are processed and
amount of waste is calculated. The amount of waste is
calculated by the intensity of gray image that represents the
deference image in grayscale format. The only issue here is
that the quality depends a lot on the positon of the camera
and the truck stopping area because the reference image
taken at the same position so the second image should also
be taken at the same position to have accurate results. Any
changes in the position of the truck can lead to false results.
The proposed system can help in contributing to the
reallocation of the bins based on the amount of solid waste
that have been collected daily but results can be severely
affected if the position of the truck changes.
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IV. CONCLUSION
The above models are an innovative approach for planning
and management of the solid waste. Identifying the location
of waste bins should be the first step for the solid waste
management. Incorporating technologies like RFIDs, GPS
etc. can provide real time tracking and monitoring of the
system. Also using the web based solutions can help the
citizens to interact with the municipal authorities and
provide bi-directional communication which is very
important for a good and efficient system to work.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would sincerely like to thank Sridhar Vallala
co-founder, IGSA Solutions Hyderabad for his guidance.
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