CHAPTER 2
REFUSE (SW) COLLECTION AND
STORAGE
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CHAPTER 2
REFUSE STORAGE AND
COLLECTION
Storage of Refuse
• Storage of refuse may be defined by the
activities and facilities necessary from the time
and spot of refuse production until those of
collection.
• The efficiency and effectiveness of solid waste
collection is intimately related to the method of
household or communal storage system.
• It is therefore of great importance within the
objectives of city planning to consider with due
care the problems of refuse storage in order2 to
increase the refuse collection efficiency.
CHAPTER 2
REFUSE STORAGE AND
COLLECTION
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CHAPTER 2
REFUSE STORAGE AND
COLLECTION
• Storage of refuse (Cont’d)
– The most common type of storage is the bin
system in which the size and make of the bins
varies quite often depending on;
• where the bin is intended to be located
• the income level of the owner
• the quantity of refuse generated.
– The most typical bins used in Tanzania ranges
from “matenga” to SIDO made bins of 0.1 m3.
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CHAPTER 2
REFUSE STORAGE AND
COLLECTION
• Storage of refuse (Cont’d)
– Receptacles for the temporary storage of
refuse should be designed specifically for
the waste to be stored. The bins should be;
• sufficient in number and/or size to store the
total volume of refuse generated within the
collection period of 4 to 7 days
• equipped with tightly closing covers to prevent
entrance of flies and escape of foul odour
• built of non-corroding materials
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CHAPTER 2
REFUSE STORAGE AND
COLLECTION
• Storage of refuse (Cont’d)
– A household paper-bag container system of
collection has been used widely in several
European Communities (Rogus, 1962).
– the application of plastic and paper bags is
possibly suitable in such places as
hospitals, camping areas, etc.
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CHAPTER 2
REFUSE STORAGE AND
COLLECTION
Separation of refuse (Resources recovery
and re-use)
– Separation of refuse required depends largely
upon the method of treatment (disposal) to be
utilized.
• Garbage may be segregated from ashes and rubbish to
allow its utilization as hog feed
• Non-combustible wastes may be separated from
combustible materials where incinerators are to be used
– Although separation has the advantages of
facilitating the final disposal, it has the
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disadvantage of increasing the cost of collection.
CHAPTER 2
REFUSE STORAGE AND
COLLECTION
• Separation of refuse (Cont’d)
– Special equipment and workers are also
necessary to collect each type of material,
and each pick-up route must be traveled
more than once.
– Where no separation is required and
frequency of collection service is provided,
a single container may be utilized for
storing the mixed refuse.
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CHAPTER 2
REFUSE STORAGE AND
COLLECTION
Point of refuse collection
– The location of the refuse containers for
collection can have an important bearing on
the speed and cost of collection service.
– Usually refuse is dumped by the collector
into a transfer can or large metal barrel
which is then carried to the collection.
• However, this procedure is more expensive than
street collection.
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CHAPTER 2
REFUSE STORAGE AND
COLLECTION
Design criteria for refuse storage
– The basic parameter for estimation of refuse storage
capacity is the refuse volume generated.
– since this parameter cannot be reliably estimated, the
following sub-parameters may be considered for
determination of refuse storage volume (V r), to be
provided to the community.
• The specific refuse weight, W
– This value usually varies from 0.17 to 0.49 kg/cap/d.
The average value is probably 0.325 kg/cap/d in
urban areas of Tanzania. However, conservative
values of 0.25 and 0.50 kg/cap/d may be used for
squatter and serviced areas respectively.
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CHAPTER 2
REFUSE STORAGE AND
COLLECTION
Design criteria for refuse storage (Cont’d)
• The bulk density of the refuse, δ
– This parameter seems to be about 300 kg/m3 in some
municipalities in Tanzania except in Dar es Salaam
where the value was as high as 550 kg/m3 is probably
due to high proportion of fine dust.
• Frequency of collection of refuse, f
– This depends on refuse, size of containers and number
of refuse collection trucks in operation.
– The Frequency of collection of refuse practiced at
present is averaged to twice weekly from residential
areas in the city center.
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CHAPTER 2
REFUSE STORAGE AND
COLLECTION
Design criteria for refuse storage (Cont’d)
• Frequency of collection of refuse, f (Cont’d)
– In other areas such as squatters, domestic refuse is
irregularly collected, usually only once a week.
– In other parts of the city, refuse is not collected at
all in due to unavailability of refuse collection
vehicles.
– However, as a temporary measure to clean the city,
service is hired from some private companies whose
collection activities are using human-driven carts
and scrap lorries.
– As a recommendation, refuse should preferably be
collected twice a week in residential areas to avoid
bad smell from putrescible matter.
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CHAPTER 2
REFUSE STORAGE AND
COLLECTION
• Design criteria for refuse storage
(Cont’d)
• Frequency of collection of refuse, f (Cont’d)
– In business and market areas where large
quantities of refuse is generated, daily collections
are necessary.
• Variability of refuse production, V
• Degree of filling refuse containers, d
• Number of inhabitants, n
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CHAPTER 2
REFUSE STORAGE AND
COLLECTION
• Design criteria for refuse storage
(Cont’d)
– Based on the assumption that
• refuse is collected once a week
• containers are filled to 90% capacity
• variation of refuse production is 20%
– the storage capacity of refuse container for
a family of six people will be
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CHAPTER 2
REFUSE STORAGE AND
COLLECTION
Design criteria for refuse storage (Cont’d)
W V
Vr f n
d
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CHAPTER 2
REFUSE STORAGE AND
COLLECTION
Design criteria for refuse storage (Cont’d)
W V
Vr f n
d
0.5 1.2
7 6
350 9
3
0.08 m
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CHAPTER 2
REFUSE STORAGE AND
COLLECTION
Design criteria for refuse storage
(Cont’d)
– The refuse containers available in the market
have a capacity of 0.1m3 produced by SIDO.
– The capacity of these bins is theoretically
adequate to accommodate generated provided
that refuse is collected once weekly.
– However, spare bin is recommended for each
household as a buffer capacity in case of failure
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in the collection processes.
CHAPTER 2
REFUSE STORAGE AND
COLLECTION
Spare to be provided for refuse storage
When the bins or large containers are
centrally located such as in block of flats,
hotels, etc. attention should be paid to the
design of the storage site for the bins.
The site for the bins should be:-
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CHAPTER 2
REFUSE STORAGE AND
COLLECTION
Spare to be provided for refuse storage
(Cont’d)
– Large enough to store the required number of
bins or containers even in the future.
– The storage site should be easily accessible
from the flats as well as from the street.
– Enough space has to be provided for shunting,
loading and unloading of containers especially
when large containers are used.
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CHAPTER 2
REFUSE STORAGE AND
COLLECTION
Collection of Refuse
For hygienic reasons, the required frequency of
refuse collection depends on the climate, especially
on the temperature: the higher the temperature, the
faster organic constituents of the refuse undergo
bacterial decomposition and give rise to foul odors.
Frequency of collection is also influenced by the
quantity of refuse generated, storage space for refuse
and aesthetics of the surroundings.
The collection of refuse must be done in such a way
as to avoid nuisance of the public and of the crew.
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CHAPTER 2
REFUSE STORAGE AND
COLLECTION
Collection system
There are generally three different collection systems
namely:
1) The emptying system, where standard bins and
containers up to a receptacle volume of 1 to 2m 3 are
emptying on the truck. Bins of larger size are not
economical as they increase haulage time and number of
operation crews. This method is common in the world over,
and in fact is the most widely used method in Tanzania.
2) The Second system is relay collection system. This
system is applied to large containers greater than 2m 3 of
volume. Collection is performed by loading the containers
by means of built-in loading devices (Fig 2.1)
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CHAPTER 2
REFUSE STORAGE AND
COLLECTION
Collection system
(Cont’d)
Figure 2.1: Schematic representation of a collection car for
the relay system.
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CHAPTER 2
REFUSE STORAGE AND
COLLECTION
Collection system (Cont’d)
3) The one-way system, applied when
refuse is stored in paper, plastic sack,
“Matenga”, etc. In this system, the
container together with the refuse are
collected for disposal.
This system is applicable in market areas
where “matenga” are usually readily
available for collection of refuse.
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CHAPTER 2
REFUSE STORAGE AND
COLLECTION
Collection Equipment
The equipment used in various cities for the collection of
refuse differs considerably in size and character. To achieve
sanitation requirements:
The equipment should include a suitable cover to prevent
the exposure of the contents, except during loading and
unloading.
The vehicle should be of watertight construction and
facilitate through cleaning.
Other consideration in equipment selection include:
Truck capacity
Type of waste collected
Manpower requirements
Operation cost of the truck
Easiness and cost of maintaining the vehicles
Road conditions
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CHAPTER 2
REFUSE STORAGE AND COLLECTION
Required number of collection trucks
• The collection capacity of trucks may be estimated
from the capacity, number of trucks available and
number of trips per day each truck makes. This is
mathematically expressed as:-
n
C Vi N i i Ti
i1
where
C = The total collection capacity
V = Volume of truck type i
N = number of trucks of type i
B = compaction factor of truck type i
T = number of trip truck type i can make.
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CHAPTER 2
REFUSE STORAGE AND
COLLECTION
Required number of collection trucks
(cont’d)
• The filling capacity of trucks is usually 80% of its
total capacity in Municipalities in Tanzania. This
factor should also be taken into account when
estimating the total collection capacity of the
trucks.
• Another important factor to be considered is the
number of trucks in operation in since a part of
the trucks has to be serviced or repaired.
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CHAPTER 2
REFUSE STORAGE AND
COLLECTION
Required number of collection trucks (cont’d)
Example:
Refuse collection cars available:
Five, 12m3 non-compaction truck which makes 2 trips/day
Seven, 8m3 non-compaction truck which makes 3 trips/day
Three, 5m3 non-compaction truck which makes 2 trips/day
Four, 10 m3 compaction truck with β = 1.5 which makes 3
trips/day
Available collection capacity assuming that trucks are filled
to 80% capacity, 30% of capacity is out of operation and
trucks work for 5 days a week
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CHAPTER 2
REFUSE STORAGE AND
COLLECTION
Required number of collection trucks
Example (cont’d).
0.8 5
C [(12 5 1.0 2) (8 7 1.0 3) (5 3 1.0 2) (10 4 1.5 3)]
1.3 7
218.9 m 3
Whereas if the specific refuse volume is 1.9 l/cap/d
and that 3/5 of the population is serviced weekly
and 2/5 bi-weekly, the number of 10m3 non-
compaction trucks required for a population of
300 000 people is calculated as follows:
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CHAPTER 2
REFUSE STORAGE AND
COLLECTION
Required number of collection trucks
Example (cont’d).
3 7 2 4
f 1.2 1.2
5 5 5 2.5
1.008 0.768
1.776
f 300 000 1.9 10 3
NC 34
10 1.0 3
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CHAPTER 2
REFUSE STORAGE AND
COLLECTION
Required number of collection trucks
Example (cont’d).
Taking into account that 30% of the cars are out of
operation and that the degree of filling is 80%,
then the required number of collection trucks is
1.3
N req N C 55 trucks
0.8
This means that about 5 455 inhabitants are
serviced by one truck of 10m3.
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CHAPTER 2
REFUSE STORAGE AND
COLLECTION
Required number of collection
trucks
Example (cont’d).
The refuse generation volume is
Vr = 1.776 300 000 1.9 10-3 =
1012m3
218.9 100
22%
which means the collection efficiency
1012
is only
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CHAPTER 2
REFUSE STORAGE AND
COLLECTION
Estimation of number of workers required
for collection of refuse
The number of workers required for refuse
collection may be estimated from the yearly
loading work one worker is able to perform.
The estimate of number of workers can be
based on the average number of bins emptied
per worker per day as shown by table 2.1.
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Table 2.1: Loadings Estimation for various Bin Volumes
(Source: Kumpt et al., 1964).
Volume of bin Loadings per worker
(l) per day
110 100 – 170
50 600 – 900
35 700 - 1000
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CHAPTER 2
REFUSE STORAGE AND
COLLECTION
Estimation of number of workers
required for collection of refuse
(Cont’d)
The yearly volume loaded by one worker may be
estimated as follows:-
Working days per year: 300
Percentage of workers present 80%
Degree of filling of bins 90%
Loading per worker per year is therefore
0. 9
V wor ker volume of bin loadings per day 300
0.8
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CHAPTER 2
REFUSE STORAGE AND
COLLECTION
Estimation of number of workers
required for collection of refuse
(Cont’d)
These estimates may not be valid in
Tanzania but may serve as a starting point.
Differences such as the supervision,
availability of bins, sizes of bins,
equipment, nature of wastes, weather
conditions, incentives, etc, may
significantly change the figures given
above.
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