2.7.1 Collection vehicles
Vehicles must be appropriate to local
conditions, that is to say they must be
suitable for the type of waste to be
collected, distances covered, access
Reducing Waste in Food Markets
Poor storage and handling of fresh produce
adds to the quantity of waste from food
markets. In many cases produce is
damaged or perishes before it can be sold.
Improving storage facilities at markets,
combined with education on better food
handling practices, can greatly reduce
wastage.
Such initiatives assist the livelihoods of
those involved in food distribution by
reducing their losses whilst reducing the
volume of waste that must be collected
and disposed of. They are also likely to have
wider benefits to food security and food
safety.
Box 2.1 Win-Win in Waste Reduction.and quality of roads, operators of the
vehicle, unloading requirements and
available financial and technical
resources.
Collection vehicles can range from
small vehicles such as hand, pedal or
animal powered carts through to non
compactor vans and trucks up to large
specialised compactor trucks. As well
as varying in size, vehicles vary
according to whether they incorporate
separate compartments for segregation
of different waste streams, such as
recyclables or organic material from
general waste.
Sound practice indicates that collection
vehicles and other equipment should
be locally made and repairable, use the
least amount of technical complexity
necessary and minimise energy
requirements.
Small vehicles such as carts are an
important sound practice in
neighbourhood level collections
systems in many developing countries.
In these settings, they represent a
sound balance in the use of available
labour, capital and resources as they
are comparatively simple to construct,
operate and maintain. They are
particularly well suited to small scale
collection in areas where access is
difficult, either due to the terrain or
narrow streets typical of many informal
settlements and low income areas. To
serve larger areas, small carts need be
used in combination with larger
vehicles capable of transporting waste
more efficiently over greater distance.
Larger vehicles can range from simple
vans with cages for waste, to box
trucks and specialised compactor
trucks. Non compactor trucks are
preferable to compactor trucks where
the waste being collected is relatively
dense and the limited benefits from
compaction cannot justify the
considerable extra capital and running
costs and complexity of the vehicles.
Such vehicles have the added
disadvantage when used with relative
“wet” organic material of producing
excess leachate squeezed from the
waste. As such, compactor trucks
rarely represent sound practice in
developing countries, where there is
typically a high organic content in
waste, despite often being perceived as
desirable and prestigious by many
municipal decision makers.
Using a hybrid system of smaller and
larger vehicles is often appropriate in
achieving the best coverage and use of
resources.
Vehicles required to collect waste from
markets need higher specifications in
terms of resistance against corrosion.
Market waste may also be heavier, as
compared to domestic waste, because
of high moisture contents. The system
needs to be reliable, as the organic
waste is putriscible, while food
packaging waste may be lower in
density, not rapidly bio-degradable and
comparatively simple to recycle and
reuse.
2.7.2 Collection routes
Appropriate collection route design
and operation is an essential factor for
efficient collection systems. The design
of suitable collection routes must
match the vehicles to be used and the
volume and distribution of waste to be
collected. Routes are likely to need to
be reviewed periodically to reflect
changes in the development of the area
served.
If collection routes are too long, or
vehicles capacity too small, then the
collection vehicles will need to return
several times to transfer stations in
order to complete the collection. This
will lead to inefficiencies in time and
costs through having to travel