TRADITIONAL BULKY-BINS FOR WASTE COLLECTION AND UNDERGROUND SYSTEMS: TECHNICAL, ECONOMICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS

Waste collection is a problem recently involving researchers and practitioners. In order to address the adoption of well performing solutions, the necessity of technically and economically evaluating alternative waste management systems arises. Furthermore, the analysis of the effect following their adoption attracts interests, specifically in the field of sustainable development, due to both an increasing number of laws and directives directing the computation of the impacts on humans and the environment along with the increasing environmentally-consciousness of consumers. In this paper a user-friendly methodology that compares waste collection systems is described. Specifically, technical, economical and environmental performance indexes are evaluated (such as: pollutant emissions during waste transport and collection, noise during waste transport and collection, obstructions to traffic during collection, visual impact and space of bins, costs). Each aspect is qualitatively and quantitatively defined. An operative tool is created, implementing the described approach. Finally a case study is analysed, in order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. Specifically, traditional bulky-bins and innovative underground collection systems are compared.