Space doesn't have to be a premium, but point taken.
Having watched another video showing just that I thought that I would give it a go, four transfer stations and a road cargo station.
What it did allow was a buffer for the already separated waste to be filling those containers whilst I then built what was needed to deal with the recycling aspect of that waste.
But, this is the part of your post I agree with, when in regular use AND having a functioning waste recycle / disposal operation working they are indeed not needed. If it isn't working that merely delays the inevitable.

However.........

I like how they look in my game and visuals trump necessity, for me :)

What I do like about the transfer stations is that they can hold bio waste and fertiliser without it decaying or changing. If that matters to the player.

Connecting 4 container warehouses with transfer station seems like a waste of space imho. To be fair, ONE should be enough (30 big containers contain plenty of space inside). I tend to use two for separation issues and to soften potential backlogs. But those "extra containers" should almost always definitely stay empty. Because if your DO is lacking, there is absolutely nothing that can save you in the long term :)

Thanks again, approaching this from using the larger containers for waste, separation at the start, when possible. So the collection from those, high density residential, will be the 6.5T larger collections.
Less dense residential areas using the other stands that a typical garbage truck could collect from.
Dropping off at a set of four transfer stations, connected by a road cargo station, will be useful to then decide on the recycling approach.

At least that should allow the collection side of things to be effectively managed, I'll see.

Then onto incineration and or customs options etc.

Logistics are easy in this case.

Towns and collection points should be TS and TS-assigned. And as long as you have 1 of each garbage truck parked in TS, you have enough of them.

TS for cities are absolutey great when paired with container storages like in this video. TS trucks often don´t drive full, so shorten their routes as much as possible.

For further distribution of waste from these container storages use, guess what, distribution office. Set it to "load at 10%" so it always drives full container and there you can play the game with where to put things (incinerator, separation, customs, biowaste dump at farm, recycling facilities, ...).

The only option where TS is ok for full job are factory-areas only. But beware of distance to drive and have sufficient amount of large waste trucks

Great detail, many thanks 👍

So much can be read and understood and then the need to try out to see how it works will bring understanding.
Logistics and building strategy etc to accomodate waste being factored into a towns layout to minimise distances traveled and the amount of vehicles.

3) Are specialised separators worth it? Yes and no.

If your setup is centralised like my setup #4, it might be more convenient to NOT sort mixed waste elsewhere, bring all mixed waste in, then separate everything you want at big sorting area and recycle it there instead of having to drive there once with metal container, once with mixed waste etc.
The problem here is that waste trucks carry only 6,5t anyway so might as well get sorted on source immediately. If you are using trains for carrying waste around, though, there is has it´s reason.

On the other hand - sorting on source sorts 100% of the waste and you need to transport less mixed waste over map to burn. And you can have recycling plant closer (logically near an area producing most of the type of waste anyway, like metal recycling next to steel mill etc.). So I think they ARE NOT NECESSARY NOR NEEDED. But sort at source well, then :)

2) Separation plants "take out" their associated types of trash out. Metal and aluminum only those but like 80% of the total mix, general separation takes out all 4 (ConWaste and Plastic as well), but only 60%. The rest to 100% is then marked as "other waste" and unseparable further down the line, so no point in chaining separations besides pre-sorting of metal and aluminum if you really fancy it.


Is it important to have at least a general separation?
I would say yes. No matter what you do, sometimes somewhere your bins get mixed or small parts of metal and plastic (like near houses) and while it isn´t the best idea to sort it right there (you need double bins basically for sufficient sorting), you can leave it there and aim only for biowaste vs. mixed waste. No harm done - it will get separated later.

The main reason for running a general separation is to make it a "filter" assuring ALL waste heading to final incinerator is turnable into ashes

Waste generation seems to be the same whatever it collects. The only thing with pre-sorted bins is that they serve as a mini unmanned separation plant for connected buildings.

It has two effects:
1) You get sorted waste right at the start and with proper waste collection yard near the city (as I have) your TS can keep up easily anyway. And then a DO can deliver it DIRECTLY anywhere without a need for long drives to waste separation areas to process it. In regular republic you will spread separations and recycling at the start: ConWaste recycling hooked to gravel mining, metal recycling hooked near steel production etc. You generally do not design setup like 3-4 in early game besides a specific scenario of "earning money from importing hazardous waste".

Pre-sorting obviously lowers load on container trucks driving around the map. And on top it is the only way of getting biowaste out of there (so that is a must for housing bins).

In your experience, if you separate your waste at source, via appropriate bins, and then the mixed waste that is still produced, I assume it is much less, and that can be fed in a separation plant..? Whilst initially that could be burned or sent to the customs I assumed there could still be benefits in recycling the mixed waste from what is described with the output from the separation plant and then dealt with..?

Trying to figure out, without testing as yet, how good it is when using separate bins for waste, and then deal with those, and how much mixed waste is still generated.

Thanks

That exactly was the goal. I created this, because many people here on forums are overwhelmed with buildings selection, trash types, processing and such. But the system is simple, only has many options based on your growth.

Thanks for feedback, Sam :)