Abstract:
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This paper describes the methodology that we have applied for the solution of an urban
waste collection problem in the municipality of Sant Boi de Llobregat, within the metropolitan
area of Barcelona (Spain). The basic nature of the considered problem is that of a
capacitated arc routing problem, although it has several specific characteristics, mainly derived
from trafic regulations. We present the model that we have built for the problem,
which results after an appropriate transformation of the problem into a node routing one.
We also present the ant colonies heuristics that we have used to obtain the solutions to the
problem. These combine constructive methods, based on nearest neighbor and on nearest
insertion, with a local search that explores various neighborhoods. The application of the
proposed methods gives results that improve considerably the ones that were previously used
in the municipality. |