cost appraisal of municipal solid waste transfer to disposal site using visual basic program

collection of municipal solid waste (msw) accounts for a significant proportion of most municipal budgets, and has drawn some degree of researchers‟ interest. this study was conducted in ota, southwest nigeria, to explore the use of visual basic program as an innovative tool to select the most economic haulage system among three systems found in literature (conventional-, modified- and stationary- hauled system) for collection and transfer of msw to disposal sites. factors that affect the costs of collection and transportation of waste such as: vehicle cost, total time spent on waste collection, and gross travel cost, were considered in the analysis. the result of the study shows that the stationary hauled method of waste collection is the optimal and economical method of collection. this method recorded a 56% and 43% reduction in total cost of daily travel per waste collection, as compared to the conventional and the modified systems, respectively. the application of visual basic program proffers implementable solutions to reduce the cost of msw transportation to disposal sites. this would reduce travel time and costs of vehicle fueling, and increase the prompt collection of waste which would in turn facilitate the development of an aesthetically balanced and environmentally friendly municipality that would perhaps boost economic development.