  We propose a new numerical scheme designed for a wide class of structured
population models based on the idea of operator splitting and particle
approximations. This scheme is related to the Escalator Boxcar Train (EBT)
method commonly used in biology, which is in essence an analogue of particle
methods used in physics. Our method exploits the split-up technique, thanks to
which the transport step and the nonlocal integral terms in the equation can be
separately considered. The order of convergence of the proposed method is
obtained in the natural space of finite nonnegative Radon measures equipped
with the flat metric. This convergence is studied even adding reconstruction
and approximation steps in the particle simulation to keep the number of
approximation particles under control. We validate our scheme in several test
cases showing the theoretical convergence error. Finally, we use the scheme in
situations in which the EBT method does not apply showing the flexibility of
this new method to cope with the different terms in general structured
population models.
