Title: The vehicle routing problem associated with residual frying oil collection: a case study

Authors: Quézia Vagmacker Basoni; Glaydston Mattos Ribeiro; Gisele de Lorena Diniz Chaves; Wellington Gonçalves

Addresses: Department of Engineering and Technology, Federal University of Espírito Santo – UFES, Rodovia BR 101 Norte, Km 60, São Mateus – ES, 29.932-540, Brazil ' Transportation Engineering Program, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro – UFRJ, Centro de Tecnologia Bloco H – Sala 106, Cidade Universitária – Rio de Janeiro, 21949-900, Brazil ' Department of Engineering and Technology, Federal University of Espírito Santo – UFES, Rodovia BR 101 Norte, Km 60, São Mateus – ES, 29.932-540, Brazil ' Department of Engineering and Technology, Federal University of Espírito Santo – UFES, Rodovia BR 101 Norte, Km 60, São Mateus – ES, 29.932-540, Brazil

Abstract: A key element in the strategy of logistics companies is the return of waste after its generation, as in the case of residual frying oil which, when disposed improperly into the sewerage system, causes damage to the sewage system itself, rivers and soil. In this context, we sought to study and propose solutions to the problem of routing vehicles with simultaneous pickup and delivery, time windows associated with the collection of plastic drums full of used frying oil and delivery of empty plastic drums to establishments. Eighteen scenarios were created to test alternative solutions to the problem, where parameters such as the type of vehicle pickup and delivery, heterogeneous fleet, different locations of the depot and heuristics to generate the routes were evaluated. Given the proposed scenarios, we obtained the fleet and the most appropriate routes for realisation of the residual frying oil collection.

Keywords: vehicle routing problem; VRP; waste management; reverse logistics; sustainable development; sustainability; residual frying oil; waste oil collection; case study; vehicle pickup and delivery; heterogeneous fleet; depot locations; heuristics.

DOI: 10.1504/LAJMSD.2015.073072

Latin American Journal of Management for Sustainable Development, 2015 Vol.2 No.3/4, pp.332 - 348

Received: 01 May 2015
Accepted: 02 May 2015

Published online: 16 Nov 2015 *

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