Waste Transportation and Facility Location Based on Cost and Impact of Emissions

conference paper

en

The world is being constantly overpopulated which is connected with the increase of production and industrialization. Such a development is reflected also in the waste management area where the amount of waste produced is higher every single year. This results in the requirement of a sustainable network of treatment facilities to meet the demand for processing. Regarding mixed municipal waste, which is the residual waste after removing recyclable fractions by citizens, the Waste-to-Energy plant seems to be a suitable option as it substitutes both landfills and burning of fossil fuels in combined heat and power plants. However, new projects when sited need to take into account surrounding conditions of heat and electricity demands to ensure the economic stability, but also environment and population threats should be considered. The paper proposes a novel strategy in facility location problems with regards to the population living close to treatment facilities and transportation roads, total costs and global warming potential. The number of inhabitants, the amount of emission produced and their distance play an important role in impact evaluation. A multi-objective core of mixed integer linear programming model is presented to assess these possibilities in the waste management sector. The local and global aspects are combined for holistic approach formulation. The approach considers also the avoided emissions by replacing the fossil fuels. The network features should be evaluated through emission edge characterisation and dispersion studies. These studies are analysed in detail and used to formulate the function for facility impact. The whole model will serve stakeholders and investors as decision-making support because protests of inhabitants due to traffic, health or environmental concerns are taken into account as well. Thus, the trade-off between cheap and socially acceptable solution can be suggested.

The world is being constantly overpopulated which is connected with the increase of production and industrialization. Such a development is reflected also in the waste management area where the amount of waste produced is higher every single year. This results in the requirement of a sustainable network of treatment facilities to meet the demand for processing. Regarding mixed municipal waste, which is the residual waste after removing recyclable fractions by citizens, the Waste-to-Energy plant seems to be a suitable option as it substitutes both landfills and burning of fossil fuels in combined heat and power plants. However, new projects when sited need to take into account surrounding conditions of heat and electricity demands to ensure the economic stability, but also environment and population threats should be considered. The paper proposes a novel strategy in facility location problems with regards to the population living close to treatment facilities and transportation roads, total costs and global warming potential. The number of inhabitants, the amount of emission produced and their distance play an important role in impact evaluation. A multi-objective core of mixed integer linear programming model is presented to assess these possibilities in the waste management sector. The local and global aspects are combined for holistic approach formulation. The approach considers also the avoided emissions by replacing the fossil fuels. The network features should be evaluated through emission edge characterisation and dispersion studies. These studies are analysed in detail and used to formulate the function for facility impact. The whole model will serve stakeholders and investors as decision-making support because protests of inhabitants due to traffic, health or environmental concerns are taken into account as well. Thus, the trade-off between cheap and socially acceptable solution can be suggested.

impact of the emissions; transportation; optimisation; waste treatment; facility location

30.09.2018

Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, Zagreb

Zagreb, Croatia

1847-7178

Book of abstracts

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