Waste Logistics and Transport Modelling in Cape Maclear, Malawi

This thesis addresses solid waste collection and transport logistics in Cape Maclear, Malawi, a rapidly growing lakeside community lacking organized waste management. The study quantified waste generators - lodges, businesses, and households - and developed three collection scenarios using four locally available vehicles: pickup truck, hand trolley, motorcycle, and small truck. A 2.5 km² map, built from drone imagery and on-site road surveys, was integrated with OpenStreetMap and QGIS routing to compute distances between collection points, with optimal routes found by solving the Travelling Salesman Problem; cost robustness was tested via Monte Carlo simulation. Results show Cape Maclear has roughly 15,000 residents, over 350 businesses, and 16 lodges. A motorcycle with trailer was most cost-effective for lodge-only collection, while a small truck was preferable when household waste was also included.