A Web-Interface Based Decision Support System for Optimizing Home Healthcare Waste Collection Vehicle Routing

<i>Background:</i> The significant increase in home healthcare (HHC) driven by technological advancements, an ageing population, and heightened disease outbreaks—especially evident during the COVID-19 pandemic—has created an urgent need for improved medical waste management. <i>Met...

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Main Authors: Kubra Sar, Pezhman Ghadimi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-11-01
Series:Logistics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2305-6290/8/4/119
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author Kubra Sar
Pezhman Ghadimi
author_facet Kubra Sar
Pezhman Ghadimi
author_sort Kubra Sar
collection DOAJ
description <i>Background:</i> The significant increase in home healthcare (HHC) driven by technological advancements, an ageing population, and heightened disease outbreaks—especially evident during the COVID-19 pandemic—has created an urgent need for improved medical waste management. <i>Methods</i>: This paper presents the development of a decision support system with a web-based interface designed for efficient medical waste collection in the HHC sector. <i>Results:</i> The system utilises Flask for backend operations, with HTML and CSS for the user interface, and manages data using JSON files. Its flexible design supports real-time adjustments for various vehicle types and changing waste production locations. It incorporates dynamic routing by employing two sophisticated metaheuristic algorithms: the Strength Pareto Evolutionary Algorithm (SPEA-2) and the Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm (NSGA-II). This setup supports different dataset sizes and vehicle fleets, including Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles and Electric Vehicles (EVs). <i>Conclusions:</i> The automation reduces uncertainties in waste collection by minimising human intervention. The system is built to be easily adaptable for other sectors with minor modifications and can be expanded to test various scenarios with new selectable parameters.
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spelling doaj-art-5a393f0039f64a00a837cdd48ddb86ca2025-08-20T03:34:33ZengMDPI AGLogistics2305-62902024-11-018411910.3390/logistics8040119A Web-Interface Based Decision Support System for Optimizing Home Healthcare Waste Collection Vehicle RoutingKubra Sar0Pezhman Ghadimi1Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University College Dublin, D04 C1P1 Dublin, IrelandMechanical and Materials Engineering, University College Dublin, D04 C1P1 Dublin, Ireland<i>Background:</i> The significant increase in home healthcare (HHC) driven by technological advancements, an ageing population, and heightened disease outbreaks—especially evident during the COVID-19 pandemic—has created an urgent need for improved medical waste management. <i>Methods</i>: This paper presents the development of a decision support system with a web-based interface designed for efficient medical waste collection in the HHC sector. <i>Results:</i> The system utilises Flask for backend operations, with HTML and CSS for the user interface, and manages data using JSON files. Its flexible design supports real-time adjustments for various vehicle types and changing waste production locations. It incorporates dynamic routing by employing two sophisticated metaheuristic algorithms: the Strength Pareto Evolutionary Algorithm (SPEA-2) and the Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm (NSGA-II). This setup supports different dataset sizes and vehicle fleets, including Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles and Electric Vehicles (EVs). <i>Conclusions:</i> The automation reduces uncertainties in waste collection by minimising human intervention. The system is built to be easily adaptable for other sectors with minor modifications and can be expanded to test various scenarios with new selectable parameters.https://www.mdpi.com/2305-6290/8/4/119decision support systemweb interface applicationmedical waste collectionvehicle routing problem
spellingShingle Kubra Sar
Pezhman Ghadimi
A Web-Interface Based Decision Support System for Optimizing Home Healthcare Waste Collection Vehicle Routing
Logistics
decision support system
web interface application
medical waste collection
vehicle routing problem
title A Web-Interface Based Decision Support System for Optimizing Home Healthcare Waste Collection Vehicle Routing
title_full A Web-Interface Based Decision Support System for Optimizing Home Healthcare Waste Collection Vehicle Routing
title_fullStr A Web-Interface Based Decision Support System for Optimizing Home Healthcare Waste Collection Vehicle Routing
title_full_unstemmed A Web-Interface Based Decision Support System for Optimizing Home Healthcare Waste Collection Vehicle Routing
title_short A Web-Interface Based Decision Support System for Optimizing Home Healthcare Waste Collection Vehicle Routing
title_sort web interface based decision support system for optimizing home healthcare waste collection vehicle routing
topic decision support system
web interface application
medical waste collection
vehicle routing problem
url https://www.mdpi.com/2305-6290/8/4/119
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