<p>The volume of municipal solid trash has expanded dramatically due to rapid urbanization and population growth, making environmentally friendly waste management a major concern for local governments. Therefore, lowering environmental effects while promoting smart city projects requires improving the effectiveness of garbage collection and transportation systems. The life cycle assessment (LCA) approach was used in this study to examine Niğde Municipality’s waste management system. The evaluation took into account waste collection and transportation procedures, fuel generation, road construction, and car manufacturing. Three different scenarios were created to look into possible enhancements: using collection vehicles with greater capacity, putting smart waste management technology into practice, and combining the two strategies. According to the findings, the current system produces 2.02&#xa0;kg CO₂-eq per t·km. Waste collecting activities account for around 84% of all greenhouse gas emissions, making this step the main source of the environmental burden. Among the evaluated alternatives, the integrated scenario provided the greatest environmental benefit, lowering total emissions by 63% to 0.743&#xa0;kg CO₂-eq per t·km. Sensitivity analysis demonstrated that the model remained robust under different assumptions, while the economic assessment indicated that the proposed improvements are economically feasible in addition to their environmental advantages. Although the findings are based on the case of Niğde Municipality, the study highlights that practical improvements in municipal waste collection and transportation systems can substantially reduce environmental impacts and may serve as a useful reference for other local governments pursuing more sustainable waste management practices.</p>