Optimization of infectious medical waste collection using RFID

Abstract

In this paper we consider the collection of infectious medical waste, produced by patients in self-treatment and stored at pharmacies. The problem is formulated as a collector-managed inventory routing problem, encompassing stochastic aspects, which are common in such problems. Social objectives, specifically the satisfaction of pharmacists and the local authority, as well as the minimization of public health risks, are considered for the real-world motivated inventory routing problem. To optimize the planning process for a predefined time horizon, we take advantage of radio frequency identification technologies. We design a tabu search based algorithm to optimize the determination of visit dates and corresponding vehicle routes. The suggested approach is tested on real-world data from the region of Provence-Alpes- Côte d'Azur, in France. The results for different waste collection scenarios are analyzed and compared in order to evaluate the performance of the proposed solution method. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.