A periodic location routing problem for collaborative recycling

ABSTRACT

Motivated by collaborative recycling efforts for non-profit agencies, we study a variant of the periodic location routing problem, in which one decides the set of open depots from the customer set, the capacity of open depots, and the visit frequency to nodes in an effort to design networks for collaborative pickup activities. We formulate this problem, highlighting the challenges introduced by these decisions. We examine the relative difficulty introduced with each decision through exact solutions and a heuristic approach that can incorporate extensions of model constraints and solve larger instances. The work is motivated by a project with a network of hunger relief agencies (e.g., food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters) focusing on collaborative approaches to address their cardboard recycling challenges collectively. We present a case study based on data from the network. In this novel setting, we evaluate collaboration in terms of participation levels and cost impact. These insights can be generalized to other networks of organizations that may consider pooling resources.

KEYWORDS:

• Periodic location routing problems
• non-profit operations research

Funding

This work was supported with a Dissertation Year Fellowship from the Northwestern University Transportation Center.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Vera Hemmelmayr

Vera Hemmelmayr is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Transport and Logistics Management at the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU). She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Vienna and a habilitation from WU. Before joining WU, she worked at the University of Vienna and at the CIRRELT (Montreal) as a postdoctoral fellow. She was a visiting researcher at Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Bologna, and Northwestern University. Her research interests include models and solution methods for optimization problems in green logistics.

Karen Smilowitz

Karen Smilowitz is a Professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences at Northwestern University and holds a joint appointment with the Northwestern University Transportation Center. She is currently a Charles Deering McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence. She studies modeling and solution approaches for logistics and transportation systems in both commercial and non-profit applications, working with transportation providers, logistics specialists, and a range of non-profit organizations. She is the co-director of the Center for Engineering and Health. She received her Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, and her BSE in Civil Engineering and Operations Research from Princeton University.

Luis de la Torre

Luis de la Torre is a Logistics Engineer at Expeditors in Seattle, Washington. He received his Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences from Northwestern University and he received his bachelor’s degrees in Economics and Mathematics from the University of California at Davis. His research focuses on developing stochastic and dynamic optimization models for transportation and distribution of critical supplies for disaster relief. He participated in the CNLS Summer Student Program at Los Alamos National Lab. He received the Center for the Commercialization of Innovative Transportation Technology Student of the Year award in 2011 and a Dissertation Year Fellowship from the Northwestern University Transportation Center.