Route planning for residential waste collection
Route planning for residential waste collection that holds all week.
NorthArc is route planning software built for residential waste collection - the recurring collection of household waste with promised collection days, changing fractions and thousands of collection points. Verdis A/S plans their residential waste collection in NorthArc across more than 20 Danish municipalities.
What is route planning for residential waste collection?
Residential waste collection is the recurring collection of household waste from private homes. Route planning for it means distributing a known set of collection points across a number of vehicles and collection days, so every route can be finished within a working day - week after week, all year round.
This is a different problem from generic route optimisation. A parcel carrier plans new stops every day. In residential waste collection the stops stay the same, but the constraints around them move: fractions change, households sign up and cancel, public holidays shift collection days, and holiday-home areas double the volumes in high season.
That is why a route calculation is not the same as a plan. The plan also has to hold out on the road, when the vehicle is full before the day is over, and when a missed-collection report comes in at ten in the morning.
What makes it hard
Six things generic route planning tools underestimate.
Fixed collection days
The household has been promised a specific weekday. The route has to be optimised within that constraint - not in spite of it. That rules out most standard algorithms, which are free to move stops around.
Multiple fractions at the same point
Residual, food, paper, cardboard, plastic, glass and metal each have their own collection frequency. The same address therefore appears in several routes at different cadences, and a change to one fraction shifts working time in another.
Interim emptying and ad hoc tasks
Overfull containers, extra collections, missed-collection reports and new sign-ups have to fit into a plan that is already made and handed to the drivers.
Municipal boundaries and tenders
Several municipalities in one operation means different regulations, different fractions, different disposal sites and separate reporting per municipality.
Seasonal variation
Holiday-home areas, the weeks around Christmas and the garden waste season change volumes significantly. A route that fits in February can run an hour long in July.
Capacity, not just time
The vehicle fills up before the working day ends. The route has to account for load, weight and the trip to the disposal site - otherwise the time estimate does not hold.
How it works
How you plan residential waste collection in NorthArc.
- 1
Load collection points and containers
Import households, collection points, container types, fractions and collection frequencies. Addresses are geocoded, so planning runs on the actual road network rather than straight-line distance.
- 2
Set the operational constraints
Working hours, breaks, crews, vehicle types, depots, disposal sites and the collection days you have promised citizens. These are hard constraints for the optimiser, not suggestions.
- 3
Optimise the routes
Run automatic optimisation on time, distance or vehicle count - or plan manually and let the system calculate the consequence. You follow the optimisation in real time and watch the improvement as it happens.
- 4
Test scenarios before deciding
Clone the plan and try an alternative in isolation: one vehicle fewer, a new fraction, a changed collection day, a holiday-home area in high season. Compare the key figures side by side.
- 5
Put the plan into operation
Export driving lists for the crews, an operational overview for the planner and documentation for the municipality. Routes can be followed during the day and adjusted when reality changes.
What you get out of it
Routes with even working hours, so the load is shared equally between crews
Fewer kilometres driven and fewer vehicles for the same amount of waste
Promised collection days that are actually kept, even when the plan is redone
Documentation and key figures per municipality for reporting and tenders
A basis for decisions when volumes, fractions or regulations change
Questions and answers
Frequently asked questions about route planning for residential waste collection.
What is the difference between residential and commercial waste in route planning?
Residential collection is many small stops with fixed, promised collection days and high stop density - often several hundred collection points on one route. Commercial waste is fewer and larger stops, where time windows and vehicle type matter more than density. NorthArc handles both, but the optimisation weights them differently.
Can the system handle multiple fractions at the same address?
Yes. The collection point is the central concept, and each container on it has its own fraction and collection frequency. The same address can therefore appear in several routes at different cadences, and the system keeps track of which fraction is collected on which day.
How are public holidays and shifted collection days handled?
Public holidays go into the calendar, and the affected collections can be shifted to the day before or after. The system recalculates the routes for the affected days, so you can see whether the shifted week can be run with the crews you have.
Can we keep the collection days we have promised citizens?
Yes. The collection day can be locked per collection point, and the optimiser works within that constraint. That is exactly what separates route planning for residential waste from generic route optimisation, where stops can be freely moved to another day.
How much data can the system handle?
Verdis A/S plans residential waste collection in NorthArc across more than 20 Danish municipalities. The system is built for the number of collection points that implies, not for a pilot area.
What does it take to get started?
An export of your collection points, containers and fractions, plus the constraints of your operation. From there we set up a first planning area together with you, so you can see the routes on your own data before deciding anything.
Case
Verdis A/S plans residential waste collection in NorthArc across more than 20 municipalities.
We have worked closely with Verdis A/S since the beginning, continuously developing the system for the complexity that characterises Danish residential waste collection at scale: fraction changes, interim emptying, seasonal shifts and municipal boundaries are built into the core rather than bolted on as special cases.
Shall we run the numbers on your collection?
Call or write to Christoffer. We will talk about how you plan today - no obligation and no sales presentation as a first step.
ContactChristoffer Høeg, CEO
+45 4162 7676
clh@northarc.dk
Contact
kontakt@northarc.dk
Thomas Laubs Gade 14,
2100 KøbenhavnCVR 40791922
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