Author(s)

Kaixu Qian ¹

Affiliation(s)

¹ School of Tansportation and Logistics, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, China

Corresponding Author

Kaixu Qian

ABSTRACT

The correct recycling and disposal of medical waste has become increasingly important in society. Especially during the pandemic, the generation of infectious medical waste has shown explosive growth. Therefore, timely and safe collection and disposal have become a key point in the pandemic. This study considers a list of novel infectious waste management measures to face the pandemic, including setting up temporary transfer stations, applying movable disposal facilities, and using emergency disposal centers. With this in mind, this study develops a bi-objective location-routing model for the collection and transportation of infectious medical waste during the pandemic. Linearization of the nonlinear terms in the model is conducted, and the bi-objective model is transformed into a single-objective optimization model using the augmented ε-constraint method (AUGMECON), which is then solved by the CPLEX optimization solver. By analysing the trade-off curve between cost and risk during the pandemic, it is concluded that the solution in the sixth to seventh iteration is Pareto optimal. In summary, this study proposes a comprehensive framework for optimizing the collection and transportation of infectious medical waste during the pandemic and provides an effective solution to this important problem.

KEYWORDS

Infectious waste management; location-routing problem (LRP); Augmented ε-constraint (AUGMECON) method

CITE THIS PAPER

Kaixu Qian, A bi-objective location-routing problem for infectious waste reverse logistics during a pandemic. Frontiers in Traffic and Transportation Engineering (2024) Vol. 4: 26-38. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23977/ftte.2024.040104.

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