Designing and Technico- Economic Feasibility Study of Underground Solid Wastes Collection System in Karaj City

Abstract

Introduction: Various challenges of aboveground waste bins including the overflow caused by the few numbers of reservoirs, visual pollution, incompatibility of the bins with the urban furniture, vulnerability of the bins to corrosion and fire, and the residents’ dissatisfaction led to creation of underground collection systems. This study aimed to determine the technical requirements and the implementation costs of underground systems for the collection of household wastes in Karaj.

Methods: The present research is a descriptive-analytical study investigating the waste collection systems of Karaj for six months. The research goal is to analyze and compare the current aboveground waste collection system of Chahrbandi Boulevard in Mehrshahr (Karaj) with the underground collection system in terms of the technical and economic aspects. The research stages include the following: referring to the urban service department of Karaj municipality to get the information of the bins located in Chahrbandi Boulevard, designing the underground waste collection system for Chahrbandi Boulevard, estimating the operational costs of the underground waste collection system, and comparing the current (aboveground) system with the underground system in terms of technical aspects.

Results: According to the results, in the aboveground waste collection system, the total costs of the initial investment are equal to 1772298000 Tomans, and the total costs of the ten-year operation period are equal to 5156406506 Tomans. In the underground waste collection system, the total costs of the initial investment are equal to 1267236800 Tomans, and the total costs of the ten-year operation period are equal to 4095305226 Tomans.

Conclusion: The cost analysis suggests that both the initial investment cost and the ten-year operation cost of the underground waste collection system are lower than those of the aboveground system. Therefore, it is recommended to change the solid wastes collection system of Karaj city to underground one.