In this study, an interval-parameter queuing model (IPQM) for planning a municipal solid waste (MSW) management system
with cost-effective objective is developed through introducing the queuing model with limited capacity into an interval-parameter
linear programming (ILP) framework. IPQM can examine the effects of limited queue capacity on waste-flow allocation pattern
and system cost under uncertainty. Random vehicles have to wait in queue due to limited capacities for disposing MSW, leading
to excess cost of delay in receiving the service. IPQM can also be used for analyzing various waste routing scenarios that are
associated with different arriving rates, service times, lost probabilities, and disposal costs. The IPQM is applied to the planning
of MSW management system in the City of Changchun, whose waste-generation rate continues to increase since it has been
encountered swift urbanization, industrialization and economic development during the past decades. Three cases associated with
different limited capacities of the queue at the landfill are analyzed, which are related to tradeoffs between the system cost and
the capacity-violation risk. Lower limited capacity can reduce the waiting time in the queue but with an increased system cost;
conversely, a desire for reducing the system cost could result in an increased risk of violating the waste disposal capacity.