A location-sizing and routing model for a biomethane production chain fed by municipal waste

This paper proposes an integrated approach for a biomethane supply chain from Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste (OFMSW), addressing both strategic plant location-sizing and tactical vehicle routing. A two-stage iterative approach following a cluster-first location&sizing&route-second approach is implemented to optimize investment and transportation costs. A novel classification of waste producers into small and large categories allows for a tailored approach, minimizing transportation costs through waste pooling for small producers and allocating vehicles effectively for large producers. Extensive computational experiments on a case study on the Lazio Region demonstrate the cost-effectiveness of the proposed approach, which saves 30% of transportation costs with respect to a location-sizing model. Additionally, the sensitivity analysis highlights the significant impact of including huge-scale plants in the solution.